I Don't Hate You
by SMF - Resonating Love
Summary: Jade broke up with Beck. Cat gets a little too friendly. Rated T for safety. Jat or Cade. Whatever tickles your peach.
1. I Don't Hate You

**Okay I absolutely love this couple so I just had to write a story about them. Slightly angsty. Jat. Rated T...just in case ;).**

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**I Don't Hate You**

With a sigh, Jade sat down on the steps in the main hallway of Hollywood Arts and listened to the squeals of teenage girls. She'd broken up with Beck yesterday and it wasn't a clean breakup. He yelled and called her names, but Jade knew he was just as relieved as she was to finally be rid of each other. Beck was nice and sweet, but he didn't have that certain quality that made Jade's heart skip a beat. Plus, Jade was sure that Beck had a crush on Tori, so now he can go and be happy with her...Jade would be happy too if her special someone would stop spacing out and realize what's right in front of them.

An unwelcome body sat down next to Jade, a little too close for comfort. "Hey, Jade!" Cat greeted happily with the usual cheerful smile on her face.

"Uhh...hey, Cat." Jade was confused. She and Cat never talked at school, much less in person. They only sometimes chatted on The Slap, but that rarely ever happened. Jade decided to cut to the chase, "Why are you here?" _And why are you sitting so damn close??_

Cat's smile didn't falter. "Oh, it's just that, now that you're not with Beck anymore you seem much more approachable."

_Wow, that's a first._ Jade thought. _It's usually the other way around..._

Not seeming to notice Jade's silence, Cat started to hum a upbeat song to herself. She kicked her feet out in front of her and let her heels bounce on the ends of the steps. Jade groaned and stood up. "You're annoying." She said bluntly before walking down the last few steps and heading towards Sikowitz's classroom. Jade glanced behind her once and saw a look on Cat's face that she just couldn't decipher. Feeling slightly guilty but not the kind of person to apologize, Jade walked into Sikowitz's classroom and sat down in the chair at the very back of the room.

Jade just wanted to get through the rest of the day without any run-ins with Beck or anymore strange happenings with Cat.

The warning bell rang and Jade prepared to tell anyone she didn't want to sit with to leave. Fortunately, no one she absolutely hated sat near her. Jade couldn't help but notice that Cat was sitting in her usual place up front and that Beck was sitting as far away from Jade as possible. Then Tori walked in and sat to the right of Cat. Cat didn't look at all thrilled. From Jade's position in the back, she could see Cat's shoulders tense up and she squirmed a little bit. Jade narrowed her eyes. _What's going on with those two..._

Meanwhile, with Cat and Tori...

"Cat we are so not done talking, and you can't just walk away in the middle of a conversation like that! Especially when I had just heard you say something really freaky and completely absurd!" Tori freaked as she sat next to Cat.

Cat shifted awkwardly and said, "God, can you please drop it? At least for now? I really don't want to talk about this right now. Not when _she_ is here!" Tori rolled her eyes.

"Okay, fine. But don't think I'm just going to forget all about this, Cat. Ya got it? As soon as class ends we are going to discuss this." Tori said firmly. Cat just nodded her head and chanced a glance at the back of the room where she knew the brooding brunette was sitting. Her heart skipped a beat when their eyes met and Cat quickly turned back around with a blush. _Oh my gosh...please tell me she wasn't listening to us just now...my life's the worst!_ Cat glared at her open-toed shoes. But then she smiled a little. _Her eyes are really pretty._

The rest of class was uneventful. A substitute teacher came in and said that Sikowitz had drunk a bad coconut and had to get his stomach pumped. The sub just had the class do their homework and study.

Jade sighed in relief when the lunch bell rang and hurried to pack her things. She felt as if someone was watching her as she left the room, but she shrugged it off and hurried to the cafeteria.

Cat watched Jade rush out of the room before she slowly turned to Tori, already dreading the conversation that hadn't even started yet. Tori was rubbing the back of her head like she usually does when she's confused or thinking. Once everyone had left, including the substitute, Tori quickly shut the door and immediately went off. "Talk. Now."

Cat clenched her fists before repeating what she had said before class, "I like Jade."

Tori didn't hesitate to ask, "So you're gay." Well it wasn't a question exactly, more like a statement.

Cat threw her hands up in the air, "I don't know!" Her palms went to her cheeks and she pressed them in frustration. "I just like Jade!"

Tori rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming. It just didn't make sense! Who would like _Jade?!_ "Okay, okay. Is that why you were unhappy this morning?" Tori skipped the other questions she knew would only upset Cat more.

"Umm...not exactly." Cat said, hesitantly.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Now Tori could _really_ feel a headache. She's already sounding like Cat!

"Well, you see, this morning I saw Jade sitting on the steps being her usual broody self. So I said to myself 'Self! We are going to talk to Jade!' So I sat down next to her. She looked kind of weird. Her face was all scrunched up. Anyways, I sat next to her and said that she was more approachable now that she wasn't with Beck anymore. She looked confused. So then I--"

"Cat! Skip all the details and just get to the point!" Tori exclaimed exasperated.

"Oh, okay. Jade said I was annoying." Cat said, now feeling depressed again.

"...that's it?" Tori questioned, not at all convinced.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I _mean_ is that all she did? Hasn't she done anything meaner before?"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Gosh! Cat! Jade's mean to everyone! If all she said was that you're annoying then you shouldn't be so down about it." Tori said, extremely frustrated. Cat was so hard to deal with.

"No, Tori. Jade is never mean to me. We don't really talk that much...only on The Slap. I like our conversations on The Slap. She's nice." Cat said pleasantly, internally glowing.

"...she's _nice_?" Tori repeated, not sure she heard correctly. "Okay, Jade and nice aren't usually used in the same sentence unless it's 'Jade _isn't_ nice'!"

"No, really Tori! Jade is always nice to me. She doesn't say anything mean to me or anything! I think that's why I like her. She gets me. She doesn't get mad at me if I say something stupid..." Cat could keep naming everything she likes about Jade, but she knew Tori was being patient with her.

"Okay...so then why did she call you annoying?" Tori gave up trying to understand anything between Cat and Jade.

"I'm not sure. I was just humming." Cat pouted. "I thought we were getting along." Cat's pout turned into an uncharacteristically sad smile. "Or maybe I'm really wrong and she hates me. I'm probably just a nuisance to her..." Tears stung her eyes. "But I really, really like her, Tori! I just want her to like me back!" She quickly wiped her eyes and sniffled. "God, why is this so hard?"

Tori offered a melancholy smile for her friend. "Cat, just give her time. Maybe she's just had a bad day. She did just broke up her long relationship with her boyfriend after all."

Cat didn't understand. Couldn't Jade just forget about Beck and move on to someone better? Cat had never had a boyfriend or girlfriend before, so she had nothing to relate to.

Cat found herself alone in Sikowitz's classroom. Confused, she looked around and saw the door hanging wide open. "Tori?" Cat called. No answer. Cat shrugged and skipped out of the room towards the cafeteria. She was starving, and she felt like asking around for candy.

* * *

"Hey, Jade!" Jade furrowed her eyebrows and turned around. She was only slightly surprised to see Tori Vega standing there.

"What do you want, Vega?" Jade was not in the mood to have any kind of 'chat' with Tori.

"Why are you so rude? And mean?" Tori asked bluntly.

"What?" Now Jade was offended. How dare she just walk up to her and say she was rude. She might as well have said 'Hey, Jade. You're ugly and you're gonna die alone.'

"You heard me. Now answer the question." Tori crossed her arms over her chest to make her seem more intimating. However, just looking at Jade made chills run up her spine. And not the good kind of chills.

"I don't know, it comes naturally." Jade retorted.

Tori snorted. "Hah! Yeah, I doubt that. You're never mean to Cat."

Jade blinked. She was horribly confused. "W-what?"

"You're mean to everyone except Cat and, well you were nice to Beck until you dumped him." Jade glared.

"That's none of your business, Tori. Now leave so I can find a _quiet_ place to eat my hotdog." Jade made a banishing motion with her free hand.

"No! I'm so sick and tired of your lame attitude. Oh and by the way, you practically made Cat cry today because of your harsh comment." Okay now that caught Jade's attention.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Jade asked.

Tori was thrown off by Jade's sudden compliance. "She, uhh, came to me all sad and then back in Sikowitz's class she almost cried because you said she was annoying."

Jade relaxed. "That's it? She almost cried because I called her annoying? Wow. Why was she upset about that? I call practically everyone annoying."

Tori rolled her eyes. "She said it was because you're never mean to her. And that you're...you're _nice_." She hissed the word.

Jade coughed a few times. "I'm _nice?! _Whoa!"

"I know!"

"But why--"

"She said that she and you talk on The Slap."

"Well, yeah, I guess...but not that often."

"She said she liked the conversations between you two." Tori added.

Jade had to take a deep breath. This was all too overwhelming. "I-I guess I don't say anything nasty about her...I know she's sensitive so I try to keep it simple. You may not know this but Cat's a little--"

"Off? Yeah, I'm pretty sure the whole school knows that." Tori said. "I also have history with her. She started crying when Eli asked why her eyebrows weren't the same color as her hair. She was all 'What's that supposed to mean?'" Tori giggled before realizing she was talking to Jade. Although she was delightfully surprised to see an almost smile on Jade's lips.

"Cat's adorable. She's sweet and I really don't want to hurt her feelings. It would be like kicking a kitten in the stomach." Jade said.

_Wow. This is a side of Jade I've never seen before...I'm starting to think Cat was right!_ Tori thought.

"Besides, I don't hate her." Jade finished.

"Well, I think you should tell her that 'cause right before I left her in Sikowitz's room she was saying that she was a nuisance to you and that you probably hate her." Tori raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to tell her?"

"I-I guess...I'll go find her." Jade quickly walked away. She found herself liking her run-in with Tori, Jade shivered. It was weird being able to talk to someone and enjoy it. _I guess I have Cat to thank for that._ Jade smiled.

However, Cat found Tori first. "What do you mean you talked to Jade?!" Cat yelled, scared.

Tori smiled. "I talked to Jade and I'm starting to think you were right. She can be nice." Tori grinned.

But Cat wasn't listening. She was running all the possible scenarios through her head. "Like she doesn't hate me enough already!" She said out loud.

"Uhh, Cat, did you just hear me? I just said--"

"I knew it! She does hate me! Great, now I can live in misery for the rest of my life."

"Whoa I wouldn't go _that_ far, Cat--"

"I'll live with one hundred cats and name each one of them 'Jade'."

"Okaaay...that's a little creepy." Tori said, awkwardly.

"Well, thanks a lot, Tori. Now that I know the truth I shall now go on and get rid of the dream I once had..." Cat spun around and left Tori without another word.

Tori stood there with her mouth hanging open. "Wait! Cat!!"

Cat ignored her and hurried through the hallway. She wasn't watching where she was going and ran right into the object of her affections and inflictions.

"Ow!" "Owwie!"

Jade quickly helped Cat stand back up. "Watch out, Cat. What's the rush?" She asked, a little worried about the fiery petite girl.

"I just want to run to the bathroom and cry my eyes out!" Cat half-yelled at the alarmed brunette. "I know you and Tori talked about me," Jade opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off. "I know what you're going to say, Jade." Cat looked at her with mournful eyes. "I'll leave you alone from now on, okay? I just—I really—nevermind, it doesn't matter." Cat hurried into the bathroom.

Jade stood there, frozen in place. "What the hell was that?!" She would have followed after the distressed Cat if it wasn't for _another_ body colliding with hers. This time, it wasn't so enjoyable.

With an 'oof' Jade was crushed against a locker. She struggled under the panting body. "Get off me!" Jade threw whoever-it-was away from her. To her surprise, Tori lay on the floor looking slightly winded.

"Jade, have you seen Cat?" Ignoring the incident that just took place, Tori stood up and brushed herself off.

"Yeah, she just ran into me and then said a bunch of gibberish before running into the bathroom." Jade pointed towards the bathroom with her thumb.

Tori threw her head back and groaned in frustration. Jade raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so I told Cat that you and I talked...and then she freaked out and wouldn't listen to anything else I said! And then she said some pretty weird things...but that's besides the point! The point is you have to get in there and comfort her." Tori finished with a stressed sigh.

Jade shook her head. "I'm not good with emotional stuff. Can't you just go in there and get her to stop crying and then make me talk to her?"

"No, Jade! You have to go in there yourself. Afterall, this is mostly your fault."

"How is this _my_ fault?"

"If you had learned self-control when you were younger, then you wouldn't have hurt Cat's feelings, therefore everything that led up to this point wouldn't have happened." Tori blamed with a harsh glare.

Jade glared right back. "I know self-control. I use it all the time! Like right now for example. Instead of talking to you, I'd much rather spread a fake rumor about you."

"Oh, yeah? And what would the rumor be?"

"That you like to eat the gum off of people's shoes." Jade said.

"Ew, gross!" Tori exclaimed, scrunching up her nose and sticking her tongue out.

"Exactly." Jade said smugly.

"Look, Jade," Tori sighed. "Either we keep arguing about ruining the other's social life, or you could go in there and tell Cat you like her." Tori was way to tired to keep this going.

"Hey, I never said I liked her. I just don't hate her."

Tori rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time and just nodded her head, "Sure, whatever, just _talk to Cat_." With that said she turned around and walked briskly down the hall.

Jade groaned but walked into the girl's bathroom anyway. "Cat?" There was a small squeak that sounded from the stall furthest from the door. "Cat, I just want to talk."

"Go away. I don't want to talk to you, Jade." Cat's voice was heavy from crying and her nose was stuffed up. And it was true. She didn't want to talk. However, she did want Jade to hug her. But what were the chances of that happening?

"Cat, you completely misunderstood the conversation!" Jade tried explaining to her. "It was a _good_ talk."

Cat got the wrong idea once again. "So, what, you like Tori now?" Cat cried harder. "You two should just go and be happy together then. Who cares about lame Cat? No one. And I'm not bi-polar!"

"Uhh I didn't say that you were." Jade said sounding really confused.

"Well, everyone says that I am. I'm not." Cat sniffed. _Wow, that was random_ Jade thought.

"Okay, wait, whoa! Do you actually think I like _Tori_?" Jade wanted to laugh at how ridiculous that was, but she knew better than to laugh. There was no response. "Cat. I will _never_ like Tori. Not like that anyways. I can barely see us being friends." Jade rested her hand on the door to the stall. To her surprise, the stall door wasn't locked.

Cat sat there looking pathetic as she wiped her eyes with toilet paper. She sniffed. "I th-thought I l-locked the do-oor." Cat hiccuped and Jade wanted nothing more than to brush that red hair back and wipe those tears herself.

Jade surprised herself by stepping forward and kneeling down in front of Cat. She grasped her trembling, clammy hands and said, "Will you please stop crying, Cat?"

Cat let out a high-pitched whine before shaking her head. "I'm sad. I can't not cry."

"Can you try?" Jade nearly begged. Nearly.

Cat took a deep breath and slowly the tears stopped. Cat smiled joyfully. "Hey, it worked!" She said before she sobered up and avoided eye contact with Jade.

"Good job," Jade congratulated. "Now let's get out of this stall. My knees are starting to hurt." Cat nodded slowly before carefully stood up and walked behind Jade until they were out of the stall and standing next to one of the sinks.

Cat leaned against the wall and rubbed her eyes. "Why are you doing this, Jade?" Cat was in deep turmoil. "I thought you hated me." Jade rolled her eyes. She had to clear this up before Cat really started to believe it.

"I don't hate you."

"What?"

"I said I don't hate you." Jade repeated, walking closer to Cat.

"B-But--" Cat was trapped. She wanted to shrink away but she was already against the wall.

"Cat. I don't hate you." Jade almost smiled at how cute she was.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Cat really wanted to know. Her mentality depended on it.

Jade sighed before reached out to pet Cat's red velvet hair. Her hand went to the back of her neck and she pulled. Their lips collided.

_Ohhh..._ Cat thought, finally getting it. Her arms wound around Jade's neck and she reciprocated.

Kissing Cat was better than what Jade had expected. She tasted like Candy, very, very sweet Candy. And she found herself liking it. _I could get used to this..._

Cat was thinking along the lines of the same thing, except she was doing a happy dance in her head. _I'm kissing Jade, I'm kissing Jade! Mmm...she tastes soo good! _Cat moaned into Jade's mouth.

Jade pressed Cat further against the wall, leaving no space between them. The kiss deepened, both girls desperately trying to convey their feelings; feelings they've known about for months.

"I don't hate you." Jade breathed as they slowly pulled apart but stayed close together with their arms still around each other.

"I get it." Cat giggled while she rubbed her nose against Jade's affectionately.

They stayed in their embrace until Jade sighed and said, "I think we have to go and find Tori."

"Aww, why?" Cat pouted. She liked Tori but she wanted to keep kissing Jade. She tasted better than any kind of candy she'd ever eaten, and that's saying a lot 'cause she's eaten _a lot_ of candy in her sixteen years of living.

"Because Tori was really worried about you." Jade said, stroking the smaller girl's arm. Cat purred in delight. "And I promised her I'd talk to you about...," Jade waved a hand between the two of them. "...this. Whatever this is." Jade knew what it was and she hoped Cat wanted it too.

From the way Cat was leaning into her, she knew Cat did. "I want us to be together." Cat stated, picking at Jade's black jacket. She gazed into Jade's eyes. "You do too, right?" Cat bit her lip adorably. Jade kissed her briefly, saying 'yes' through the kiss. "That's great!" Cat didn't think she'd ever felt so happy in her entire life. "'Cause I really, really like you, Jade."

Jade smiled. "And I really, really don't hate you too, Cat." Cat laughed and pulled Jade by the hand as they left the bathroom.

"Slow down, slow down, slow down!" Jade shrieked as Cat tugged her down the hallway. She quickly caught up with her and put an arm around her shoulder. "Man, you're energetic all of a sudden."

"Yes! I can't wait to tell Tori that we are together!" Cat smiled wide and she laughed happily when she spotted Tori by her locker. "Tori!" Cat called to her friend and, again, nearly pulled Jade's arm off as she ran forward.

"Cat!" Tori smiled at her and glanced briefly at Jade, giving her a small nod in greeting. "You're not sad or crying! That must be a good sign." Tori joked as she put the remaining books in her locker and slamming it shut.

"Well, duh." Cat said, making a funny face. "Jade's with me, so of course I'm not sad." Jade was touched at the simple, yet meaningful statement. She squeezed Cat's hand and Cat's smile grew, if that was possible.

Tori grinned at the couple and patted Jade's shoulder. "So you told her, eh?"

Jade scowled. "Of course I did. What, did you think I would have just walked away?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Tori said, nodding her head.

"Jade was really sweet." Cat interrupted, gazing dreamily at Jade. She hugged Jade from the side and declared, "I want to be with her forever!" Jade blushed and patted her head.

"Aww!" Tori squealed. "That's so cute! Ya know, I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it

with my own eyes but..." She looked the cuddly coupled up and down. "you two look really good together." She smiled warmly. "Oh, and let me to be the first to congratulate you two." She hugged them tightly.

Jade squirmed in both Cat and Tori's embrace. "Okay, okay we get it! Now let go." There's only so much affection she can take in one day. Tori let go but Cat stayed where she was. Jade sighed but didn't push her away. Cat was special after all.

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**End of first chapter out of two! (I think) I made it longer than I planned.**

**Yay! My first Jat story! I think I did a pretty good job. Although I made Jade nicer than she would be, but that's okay. I'm already working on chapter two so be prepared!!**


	2. Better Than Candy

**And here comes chapter 2~! Thank you soooo much for the awesome reviews! Because of that I am going to try to be consistent with my updates. I'll most likely have them up on the weekends, considering I have school and stuff....but I am so looking forward to summer vacation. I'll be reading and writing all the time! XD**

**Okay here we go!**

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**Better than Candy**

Jade slowly walked up to her locker and reached for the lock. _It's too early._ Jade whined internally as she put in her locker combination. _What was it again? Oh yeah..._ She successfully opened her locker and stuffed her books inside, making her once clean locker very messing. _Oh, who gives a crap._ Jade cast aside her thoughts and rested her forehead against the cold metal of her locker.

"Jade! Jade!" Jade didn't have enough time to turn around before she had an arm full of Cat. The brunette quickly shut her locker and then shifted her full attention to her eager girlfriend.

"Hey, Cat. What's up?" Jade leaned against the lockers, pulling Cat with her.

Cat looked up at her with her big, innocent eyes. Jade always got lost in them. Right now they were wide with love and affection. "Huh, what?" Cat snapped out of her day dream. "Umm...I forgot." Cat pouted. "And I was so excited!"

Jade rubbed Cat's cheek to calm her down. "Can you remember what you were doing before you got here?"

Cat didn't answer right away. "No, I can't..." Cat leaned closer towards Jade, her eyes darting to her girlfriend's lips. Cat wet her lips. "I can't remember anything right now..."

Jade also leaned in, but stopped when they were millimeters apart. Their breaths mingled. Cat got fed up with the space and leaned in the rest of the way. Staying like that for only a few seconds, they pulled away, again not all the way. Cat was smiling while Jade looked satisfied. Although this was only their second day together, Jade was already loving these kind of moments. "You can tell me later, okay?" Jade said, rubbing Cat's lower back.

Cat only nodded, not sure what they were talking about. And then the warning bell rang, ruining their quiet moment together. Jade rubbed her eyes tiredly before taking Cat's hand. "Well, let's get going."

Walking slowly to Sikowitz's class, Cat asked in a quiet voice, "Can I sit with you today, Jade?" Jade raised an eyebrow. "I-I mean we don't have to sit together, but it would be nice because I really like you and I want to―"

Jade chuckled and squeeze Cat's hand. "Yes, Cat, we can sit together. You don't have to ask." Cat looked relieved and she giggled. "But I'm not sitting in the front. I only sit in the back. Unless all the seats are taken, then I'll sit in the front but grudgingly."

"Okay I get it." Cat giggled. "We can sit in the back." Cat pulled Jade the rest of the way and into the classroom. Fortunately for Jade, there were at least five free spaces in the back. She settled for the chair nearest the aisle and Cat sat right next to her. Jade noticed how Cat scooted their chairs closer together, but she didn't complain. Jade might not look it, but she was actually a huge fan of cuddling. But if anyone said it out loud she would deny it in an instant. It just wouldn't fit her image, ya know?

Tori walked in not long after they did. She winked at them before seating herself next to André, two seats in front of them. Not to the class's surprise, Sikowitz still wasn't at school. The same substitute from yesterday came in with the same assignment...studying. Jade groaned. If only she'd known that, or else she would have gone to bed early last night instead of trying to finish all of her homework.

Cat, on the other hand, pulled out her notebook and looked over the notes she'd taken the day before. She also took out a pen and started doodling in the margins. Jade opted to just sit and watch, and hopefully get some shut eye. And she did. For about thirty seconds. Tori joined them, sitting next to Cat.

"Hey, lovebirds." Tori teased, brushing back an annoying strand of hair.

"Hey, Tori." Cat greeted with a smile, though she didn't look up from her notebook. Jade hummed in greeting, not opening her eyes.

Cat and Tori chatted animately and Jade just tuned them out. _Let class be over soon..._ Jade mentally groaned. Unfortunately, Jade was able to count the minutes before the bell rang. She grabbed her backpack and heaved it over her shoulder. She turned to Cat, who was just standing up. "I'll see you at lunch." She kissed Cat's cheek before heading out.

Cat touched her cheek and grinned, completely lovestruck. Tori smirked at her friend. "Oooh! Someone's got it baaaad." Tori brushed past her and left the room.

Cat followed after her, shouting, "What's that supposed to mean?!"

* * *

After getting out of history class, Cat and Tori walked together to Jade's locker. Tori wasn't used to Cat not going straight to the cafeteria, but she thought it was sweet that Cat was waiting for Jade.

Cat laughed out loud. Tori smiled too, now curious. "What? What's so funny?"

"Haha! It's just that..." Cat giggled. "For a little while, before Jade and I got together, I thought that you two liked each other."

Tori's smile faded. "WHAT?!" She screeched. "How—what―why in the world??"

Jade walked up to them and almost laughed at Tori's face. "What's up with your face?"

Cat smiled and clung to Jade's arm. "Jade, can we get some mashed potatoes?" Completely forgetting about Tori.

"I guess."

"Yay!"

And they left, leaving Tori standing there all by her lonesome, still slack-jawed.

* * *

Jade watched Cat eat her mashed potatoes, her head resting on her hand. She let her head fall to the table, face down. _Ugh...so...tired._ She allowed her eyes to close for ten seconds of wonderful peacefulness...before _they_ showed up.

Tori, André, and Robbie sat down at their table. Tori and André sat across from Jade and Cat, while Robbie opted to sit near Cat. He set Rex on the table. Everyone knew about Robbie's crush on Cat, maybe even Cat knew. Jade _did not_ see Robbie as a threat at all, so she went back to half-sleeping.

"What's up with Jade?" André whispered to Tori.

Tori shrugged and didn't bother whispering. Jade could probably hear them anyways. "I dunno. She's probably just tired."

Jade did hear them but didn't comment. She was too tired to register that Cat had finished her potatoes, gotten up, thrown them away, and was now staring at her with confused eyes.

"Jade...?" Cat lifted a tentative finger and poked Jade's shoulder.

Jade lifted her head and glared at Cat. "Don't poke me."

Cat pulled away her offending finger and said, "Sorry! I was just making sure you weren't asleep."

"Well, if I was, I'm not anymore."

"Oh! I remembered what I wanted to tell you this morning!" Cat said, absolutely elastic. "I got an A on my last makeup project!" Cat grinned proudly.

Jade smiled and pet Cat's red-hair. "That's awesome. Good job." André and Robbie glanced at each other, wondering why Jade was acting weird.

"Make-up project?" Tori asked, not getting it. "Did you miss an assignment?"

Jade rolled her eyes before shifting her head towards Tori. "No, Tori. Makeup. As in the stuff you should really wear more often to cover your ugly―"

"Okay, I get it!" Tori interrupted, not wanting to hear the rest of Jade's sentence.

Jade smirked and sat up but her head weighed down, so she moved to rest her head on Cat's shoulder. _Cat's comfy..._ She felt Cat's arm wrap around her waist, pulling her closer. _Damn it. Now I really might fall asleep._ She felt eyes on them.

André and Robbie stared. "Uhh, what's up with them?" André asked, not at all sure if this was 'normal' behavior' for girls. "They're acting all cuddly...Jade's acting all cuddly...with Cat." André paused. "Okay, something is seriously wrong here, people!"

"Cat and Jade are going out." Tori said bluntly.

"What?" André and Robbie asked at the same time. "Okay, I don't think I heard you correctly," André said with a chuckle. "Say again?"

Tori turned to face him, her face inches from his. "_Cat_ and _Jade_ are _going out_." Tori leaned closer with each word. She turned back to her food when it all seemed to register in his head.

"Oh." André said stupidly

"Oh." Jade mimicked him. She pulled out of Cat's embrace and faced the group. "Yes, Cat and I are together." She looked at Robbie, whose mouth was hanging open. Robbie had been in the middle of sipping his beef noodle soup, so droplets of soup fell from his mouth. And yet he didn't move to wipe or close his mouth.

"Ya, know," André started to say. "I always figured Cat and Robbie would end up together." Robbie spat his soup out in Jade's face. "But I guess not..."

Luckily, Jade's mouth was closed, so she didn't get any Robbie/soup mix down her throat. Jade stood up and wiped at her face with a napkin. "ROBBIE!!" Jade was furious.

"I'm sorry?" Robbie said, offering her a sheepish smile. He didn't look sorry at all.

"Ugh! This is so gross! You're gross, Robbie." Jade grabbed her backpack and left the table, in a rush to get the sticky soup off her face.

Jade ran right into Trina. "Hey!" Trina yelled. "Watch where you're going Not-Tori's-Friend!" She continued past their lunch table.

Tori made a face. "Robbie, that was really nasty." But her frown transformed into a small grin. "Did you see that piece of noodle fly right out of Robbie's mouth and straight at her nose?" Tori giggled.

"I thought it was gonna hit her in the eye!" André laughed. Robbie looked super embarrassed, but also a little pleased. He grinned at Cat, who didn't look amused at all.

"You guys! Don't laugh!" Cat scolded Tori and André. "That was really mean," She said, facing Robbie. "What do you have to say for yourself?" The little red-head looked very disappointed.

Rex's head turned to stare at Robbie. "Yeah, what do you have to say yourself?"

Robbie glared at his 'friend'. He gave Cat a guilty look. "It wasn't like I meant to do it. It just...flew out of my mouth." He now took the time to wipe up the soup that hit the table.

"Hey, man. You're just lucky Jade didn't hurt you." Rex said, shaking its head. "I was sure she was gonna gouge your eyes out and roll you in cow manure." Rex laughed creepily. "Now that I would pay to see."

"You're a demon!" Robbie yelled at Rex.

Tori and André rolled their eyes, choosing to ignore the two arguing freaks. Tori noticed how Cat had turned around in her seat and was now gazing into the crowds of people near the door.

"Hey, uh, whatcha doin'?"

Cat didn't seem to hear her and continued to watch the door.

"Cat? Cat!" Tori snapped her fingers near Cat's ears. "Snap out of it!"

Cat spun around, looking dazed. "Huh?"

"What are you doing?" Tori asked again, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Oh!" Cat bounced on her side of the bench. "I'm waiting for Jade to get back." She spun back around.

"Okaayy." Tori went back to eating her salad. At first she was willing to ignore it, but Cat's bouncing was starting to move the whole table. She wanted to yell 'stop' but Cat looked too excited to be calmed down. _Hurry up, Jade, your girl is waiting! And she's ruining my lunch_. The ranch dressing she tried to pour on her salad had mostly hit its target, and the rest dropped onto the table. Tori wanted her dressing to make a circular shape, but it looked more zigzagged.

Cat sighed impatiently. She turned back around and hunched over, resting her chin on the table. "What's taking her so long?" She mindlessly tapped her fingertips to the metal. "Do you think something happened?"

Tori snorted. "What do you think might have happened? She slipped on a bar of soap and fainted on the cold floor?" Tori laughed at the improbability.

Cat panicked. "Oh my god! She might be hurt!" She stood up, her eyes wide with worry.

"Cat, Cat!" Tori yelled as gently as possible. "We don't even have bars of soap at our school. We have soap dispensers, so it's impossible." Cat sat back down, but still looked worried.

"Then why isn't she here yet?"

Tori did wonder. _Maybe there was a line in the bathroom? Nah. We've got like three bathrooms. Maybe Beck wanted to talk to her?_ That was a possibility, though it didn't look like Beck wanted anything to do with Jade anymore, considering how far he sat from her in class.

"Toriii..." Cat whined, giving her the puppy dog eyes. "Go with me to find her."

"No, way!" Tori refused immediately. "Look, Cat, she'll be here any second. Trust me."

It was quiet for five seconds... "Toriiii!"

Tori dropped her fork in her salad and huffed. "Fine!"

"Yay!" Cat hopped off the bench, looking very grateful.

Tori was about to stand up as well, until she saw a very familiar face step out onto the lunch quad. "Oh, look, Cat! Jade's back." Tori pointed towards Jade and Cat gasped in delight.

Cat hurried over to her now clean-faced girlfriend and hugged her middle. Jade's hands were full, but she awkwardly hugged back. "What took you so long?" Cat asked once she pulled away.

Jade smirked. "Why? You miss me?"

Cat was about to respond when a chorus of 'yes''s interrupted her. Jade raised an eyebrow. "A little." Cat said sheepishly, but she was overjoyed on the inside.

"Well I've got a special surprise for you." Jade said mysteriously. Cat's eyes lit up.

"What is it? What is it? Oooh I hope it's candy!" Cat looked like a five year old who was just about to open Christmas presents. "Jaaade! Tell me!"

Jade lifted her right hand and offered her childish girlfriend a red lollipop. Cat squealed and quickly took the lollipop and popped it in her mouth. She then grasped Jade's hand and pulled her back to their lunch table. "Here." Jade threw Tori an orange lollipop and André a blue lollipop. "Go crazy." Jade sat down next to Cat and put a green sucker in her mouth before turning to Robbie. "You don't get one 'cause you spat beef soup in my face."

"Why don't I get one?" Rex complained.

Jade gave it a look. "Because you're a _puppet_?"

"No, I'm not!" Rex sounded offended. "I am an American citizen! And I demand my own lollipop!"

"In your dreams." Jade dismissed.

"I'm counting on that." Rex retorted.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

Jade stopped sucking on her lollipop long enough to kiss Cat's cheek. "Meet me at my locker after school. I'll drive you home, kay?" Cat grinned and nodded, hoping the rest of her classes will go by quickly so she can be alone with Jade.

* * *

Cat pushed past a crowd of teenagers, who were also trying to leave class. Cat glared at the two people who had stopped right in the middle of the hallway to talk. _Why do people always do that? Can't they just move aside?_ That was one of Cat's few pet-peeves. She didn't bother going to her locker, predicting that Sikowitz wasn't going to be at school the next day, so she'd get her homework done then. She made a beeline to Jade's locker and stopped right in front of it. However, Cat didn't see Jade anywhere

"Jade?" Cat called out, extremely confused. Cat was a little late getting out of class and Jade's last class was right by her locker, so Jade should be here already. _Did she already leave without me?_ Cat thought in alarm. Now frightened, Cat went looking for her girlfriend.

Cat peaked her head in the girl's bathroom, but she didn't see anyone in there. After checking the other two restrooms, Cat hurried to the parking lot. Not seeing any familiar faces, Cat rushed to the lunch tables. By the time she got there she was out of breath. She looked around but didn't see Jade. She whined and stomped her foot. After her little tantrum, Cat thought that Jade might be at her locker, waiting for her. Cat brightened and hurried around the lunch tables, deciding to use the front entrance. She hit her leg on one of the benches in her hurry and fell to the hard cement.

"Ow!" Cat cried out in pain, but she didn't let that deter her. She stumbled to get back up and ran to the door, ignoring the sharp pain in her leg. It was all in vain, however, because Jade wasn't at her locker.

_Cafeteria? No. Water fountain? No. Classroom? No. Hallway? No. Stairs? No!_ Cat threw her backpack to the ground and plopped down on the stairs. She buried her face in her hands and released her tears that had been stinging her eyes ever since she saw Jade wasn't where she promised she'd be. Cat was scared and lonely. Almost everyone had already gone home and the people that hadn't were complete strangers. _I don't even have my phone!_ Cat thought in anguish. _I just want to see her..._

She heard a sigh of relief from behind her. Cat held her breath and turned around. There stood Jade at the top of the staircase, looking slightly winded. Cat let out a watery laugh and stood up, not sure if Jade was real or not. Jade walked down the remaining steps between herself and Cat and stopped in front of her. "There you are! Where were you? When I got to my locker you weren't there, so I―"

"Oh, thank god." Cat's shoulders slumped in relief and she darted forward to embrace her girlfriend. "I thought you left me!" Cat hiccuped and Jade would have found it adorable if Cat wasn't crying her eyes out. She quickly rubbed her back and hugged her close.

"Shh...I didn't leave you. I went to get a bottle of water."

"Oh." Cat felt silly. She was freaking out over something so small. _Jade just went to get some water,_ Cat comforted herself. _It's no big deal! But...but then why can't I stop crying?_ She buried herself deeper in Jade's warm hug. _Stop tears! I command you to stop!_ Cat was so confused. Why did she feel so hurt? And then it hit her like a grenade. Cat lifted her head long enough to say what she's been dying to say for a long time...to anyone. "Please don't leave me." She whimpered before forcing herself back into her newly deemed sanctuary.

"I won't." Jade said strongly. "Now stop crying and let me see you."

Cat reluctantly pulled out of Jade's arms and wiped her eyes before looking up shyly. She felt very timid and self-conscious all of a sudden, and she knew it had something to do with Jade's striking eyes roaming her face and body.

"Good, you aren't hurt." Jade surprised her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cat asked quietly.

Jade scratched the back of her neck before answering, "Well, when I got back from the cafeteria and saw that you weren't at my locker I went looking for you. I was just about to go outside to the lunch tables when I saw you trip and fall. It looked like it hurt." Cat nodded. "But then you were gone before I could even blink. And when I finally found you, I didn't have enough time to check to see if you were okay before you glomped me." Jade smirked.

"My lips." Cat blurted.

Jade blinked. "What?"

"I hurt my bottom lip." Cat stuck out her bottom lip in emphasis. "Kiss it and make it better."

Despite that being one of the most cheesy lines ever, Jade swiftly moved forward and caught Cat's bottom lip between her teeth. She lightly sucked on it and licked it before letting go. "There. All better." She offered a small smile at Cat, who was lost in her fantasy world once again. Cat snapped out of it and grinned brightly.

"You're better than candy." Cat whispered as she hugged herself to Jade once again.

Jade didn't understand her. "What did you say?" Jade was about to push Cat away when Cat shook her head and held her tighter.

"Nothing." Cat smiled contently and nuzzled her nose against Jade's collar bone.

Jade 'hmm'ed in response and wrapped her own arms around the girl she 'didn't hate'. Jade smiled grimly. _Okay, I like her. _She admitted to herself. When she felt Cat kiss her neck collar bone sweetly she thought, _Okay, I really like her. Damn the world for making me think it..._

Jade felt rather than heard Cat's breath hitch. "What's the matter?"

Cat didn't move, in fact she froze. "My leg, my leg hurts." Cat pulled away slowly, looking at her right leg. Jade also looked at Cat's leg and gasped at the large cut that extended from the middle of Cat's shin to the bottom of her kneecap.

"Cat! Why didn't you say anything?" Jade scolded as she kneeled down and examined the wound.

Cat shook her head. "I didn't notice! I was too busy looking for you..." Jade looked up and caught Cat's eye.

"Okay," Jade sighed. She stood up and took Cat's hand. "Let's go." Jade gently pulled Cat along with her, being careful not to move too fast. They stopped only to grab Cat's backpack and then continued on.

"Where are we going?" Cat asked while limping. "To the candy store?" She felt her heart soar at the idea of going to the candy shop with Jade.

Jade snorted. "No, I'm taking you to see the nurse."

Cat's hope crumbled, having been stepped on millions of times. "Aww, why?"

Jade raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Are you really asking me that?" It was pretty obvious why.

"Yes. Can't you hear me?" Cat said with a 'duh' tone.

_I've really gotta teach her about sarcasm_. "We are going to the nurse's office to get your leg wrapped." Cat 'awwed' again. The nurse was nice, but Cat found her kinda creepy.

"I don't wanna go." Cat stopped walking and crossed her arms, looking grumpy.

"So you would rather just stand there until you pass out from blood loss, leaving me to carry you to the nurse's office without help?" Jade asked, her eyebrow still raised.

"Yes." Cat said, triumphantly. But she quickly added, "Only if you stay with me though. It would get lonely standing here."

Jade shook her head and smirked. "I'd much rather you go to the nurse's and get a bandage for your leg, Cat. I won't have my girlfriend bleeding all over herself." Cat glowed at this and half skipped over to Jade, despite her hurting leg.

She took Jade's hand and intertwined their fingers. "Okay, let's go then. But you have to hold my hand the entire time or else I'll leave!"

Jade smiled at Cat's childish antics. "Fine, I'll hold your hand the _entire_ time."

"Will you buy me some ice cream too?"

"W-what? Why would I buy you ice―"

"Pleaaase?" Cat's eyes went abnormally large, and Jade couldn't help but submit to her wishes.

"...Whatever. But two scoops max!"

"Okay! Tha—"

"And no toppings."

"...okay..."

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**And end of chapter two! Man, I started this like three days ago and now I'm finally done. I'm not sure what chapter three will be about, but it will most likely be random or something.**

**I loved the newest episode of Victorious! Cat was amazing and very cute! Can't wait for the next one!**

**Anyways, I'll try to have chapter three posted by the weekend. Until then...**


	3. Ice Cream Mayhem

**Here comes chapter three! Just a note that I'm starting this on the 10th of May. I just want to see how long this is going to take me...:P**

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**Ice Cream Mayhem **

Fweezy Queen was very crowded and Jade was regretting promising to get Cat ice cream. She was starting to think she should use the 'my friend is hurt and needs some ice cream right away to heal her pain' trick, but she wasn't _that_ desperate. On the up side, Cat looked perfectly happy trying to decide what kind of ice cream she wanted. Jade was hoping Cat was going to stay true to her word and not try to get any toppings. Jade may be nice to Cat, but there was no pushing her. "Hey, Jade. Do you think I should get the Rocky Road Blues or the Splashy Lemon-Lime?"

Jade wasn't paying attention so she just answered, "Yeah, sure."

"Jade?" Cat knew Jade wasn't listening. She crossed her arms and raised a slender, uncolorful eyebrow. "What kind of ice cream should I get?"

"Definitely, yes."

"Jade."

"I'll totally support you."

"Well that's good. 'Cause I'm going to keep saying your name until you answer normally. _Jade_." Cat was being patient, considering she was about to get some ice cream.

"Huh?" Jade seemed to snap out of it. She blinked a few times, sort of disoriented from her thoughts. She focused on Cat. "What?"

Cat rolled her eyes and grinned. "I was wondering what kind of ice cream I should get, either Rocky Road Blues or Splashy Lemon-Lime."

"That one." Oh, golly-gee how helpful.

"Which one?"

"The one you said."

"Jade, you aren't being helpful." Cat huffed.

"Aren't I?" Jade was extremely bored. So what better way to entertain herself than to mess with her naïve girlfriend? "I think I'm being super helpful." Jade picked between her nails, not finding anything, but doing it just for the fun of it.

"But you're not!" Cat was so confused. She thought Jade was smart, but it looked like she was wrong. It was so obvious Jade wasn't being helpful at all. "You're being dumb."

Jade grinned. She'd hit her mark. "Look, if you get the blues then you'll be sad, but if you get the splashes then you'll get wet. So get the one that's less blue and more red. Less splashy, more tidy." Jade smirked at her cleverness.

"Oh, so I should get Cleany Pink?" Cat asked, finally getting what Jade was saying.

"...What?" Jade couldn't believe it. She thought she'd stumped Cat...She looked at the ice cream menu. _Oh my god. That flavor's for real! Wait. Did...did I just speak Cat?_ Jade pressed her hands to her eyes. _No! I refuse to believe it!_

"Jade? Are you okay?" Cat placed her hand on Jade's shoulder, concerned for her suddenly tense girlfriend.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine. No worries." Jade gathered her senses back together and ignored the fact she had her first mental breakdown in an ice cream store. She ran a hand through her dark hair and glanced at the shortening line. "Ugh, this is taking forever!"

Cat twisted a stand of hair between her thumb and index finger. "I think I know how to pass the time." She said suggestively. Jade raised an eyebrow but found herself liking the idea. The space between them quickly depleted and they hugged tightly as they made out in the middle of Fweezy Queen. Strangely, Cat wasn't embarrassed at all. In fact, she was feeling rather protective of Jade, yet she wanted to flaunt her and show everyone that Jade was hers. _I like this feeling. _Cat thought as she ran her hands over Jade's cheeks.

"That's hot!" A random guy at the back of the line shouted.

Jade broke the kiss and shouted right back, "Back off!" Cat giggled and pulled Jade back towards her, continuing where they left off.

"Ahem." A snotty sounding girl cleared her throat and glared at the oblivious couple. "Uh, hello? It's your turn to order!" She sounded totally generic.

If Cat had cat ears, they would be perked up. "Ohh, ice cream!" She bounced forward and ordered the Cleany Pink, two scoops like she promised. Jade refused to get any; ice cream went straight to her head. She always got the worst brain freezes.

Cat insisted that they stay in Fweezy Queen so she could eat her ice cream without having to move around at the same time. They chose the most secluded place by the window. Jade sat in her usual posture and stared at the window at the passer-byers. She watched a little boy play with his dog on the grass. Despite the dogs small size, he was able to leap great heights to catch the flying frisbee. The little yipper went straight back to his owner and rolled on the grass. _That's kinda cute..._ Jade thought fondly, continuing to watch the puppy play around. _...And now it's taking a crap...brilliant._ Jade looked away in disgust and turned her attention to Cat.

Cat looked a little too happy. _Can ice cream really make a person _that_ happy?_ Jade asked herself. Cat was eating her frozen desert very slowly, as if it was the last cone of ice cream she'd ever get. "Jade, Jade! You should try this! It's soo good!" Cat said generously. She held up the cone to Jade's face, mere inches from touching her nose. "C'mon...You know you wanna." Cat giggled and waved the cone around.

Jade let her tongue taste the cold, cold Cleany Pink flavored ice cream. She retracted her tongue and swallowed the small amount of melted sugary goodness. _It's not bad._ Jade licked her lips in satisfaction. She noticed Cat was leaning forward and seemed to be analyzing her reaction. "It's good." Jade said simply, allowing herself one last lick. Cat grinned and watched her closely. The way her tongue flicked out to lick her lips was entrancing. Cat tore her eyes away and focused on her melting ice cream. She ate as quickly as she could.

When she was finished she grasped her head. "Brain freeze!" Cat squirmed in her chair and squeezed her eyes shut. The unpleasant feeling passed and she returned to her regular self. "That was delicious! Jade can I―"

"No."

"Aww."

Jade smirked at Cat's face. She had eaten very sloppily and now there was a big spot of pink on her chin and on the corner of her mouth. She picked up a napkin and leaned forward until she was hovering over the table. "You've got a little something on your face." Cat gasped and quickly leaned forward, allowing Jade better access. She cleaned off the cream on Cat's chin swiftly and efficiently, but she stopped when she got to the spot closest to her lips. She dropped the used napkin on the table and swiped her finger over the corner of Cat's mouth. She stuck the offending finger in her mouth and licked it clean. "All better." Jade said nonchalantly, noticing the shocked look on Cat's face.

Cat blushed a deep red and looked down at the table. "Thanks." She said quietly. Jade just smirked and stood up. Jade went out the front door to the store and walked up to the part of the window she knew Cat was still sitting at. When she looked in she saw that Cat was still hunched over the table, and probably didn't even know Jade had left. Jade waited. Eventually, Cat realized her girlfriend had left and was looking around bewilderedly. Jade waved her hand outside, trying to get Cat's attention. Cat didn't notice.

Jade sighed and was about to walk back inside when she saw Cat go stalk still. Her shoulders tensed and then she turned in her seat so she was facing the table properly. Jade saw her hands clench the bottom of her shirt, and Jade knew Cat was about to lose it. Jade tapped on the glass and waved her arms around. People were giving her weird looks, but she ignored them. Cat finally noticed her frantic tapping and immediately stood up and pushed her way to the door. "Please get out of the way!" Cat yelled at an old woman, who looked an awful lot like Robbie's grandmother.

Jade gave Cat an impressed look as she limped out of the shop. She didn't know what to expect when Cat finally got to her side, but it definently wasn't a punch. "Ow! Cat!" She rubbed her shoulder. "What was that for?"

Cat looked extremely upset and had yet to wipe the few tears that ran down her pale cheeks. "You left me all alone in there!" She wrapped her arms around herself. "Why didn't you tell me we were leaving? I would have left with you!" She yelled.

Jade glared and yelled back, "Well you were done with your ice cream so I figured we should leave. I thought you were right behind me, but you weren't. You weren't even paying attention!" She gestured with her hands angrily.

"Don't yell at me!" Cat screamed. "I didn't do anything wrong! You were the one that abandoned me!"

"You're yelling too! God, how do people put up with you? You're crazy!" Jade yelled before she could stop herself. "H-hey, don't cry." She gathered the mentally fragile girl in her arms and rocked her back and forth. "I didn't meant to yell. I take it back." Jade hated it when Cat cried. And she felt horrible that she'd made Cat cry for the second time in only one day.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Cat cried into Jade's shoulder.

Jade looked at he in confusion. "Why are you apologizing? I should be the one doing that." Although she didn't know if she could.

Cat didn't seem to hear her. "I'm sorry! Please don't hate me."

"I thought we already established that I absolutely _do not_ hate you." Jade tried to joke.

"Hey, girls!" They heard a distant voice say behind them. Jade turned themselves around to see who was interrupting them. Her face fell when she saw it was Robbie. She tilted her head back and cursed the world.

Robbie began walking towards them, once he had made sure they were actually people he knew, going right through the park. When he stopped in front of them, Cat wrinkled her nose and waved at the air in front of her face. "What is that smell?"

Robbie smelled the air, also noticing a strange smell.

Jade knew what they were smelling. She grinned at Robbie and said the horrible words no one liked to hear..._Oh, sweet revenge._ "You just stepped in dog crap."

Cat covered her mouth in her attempt to stifle her laughter, while Robbie lifted up his foot and then quickly put it down and rubbed his tainted shoe against the grass. Jade had to thank Robbie a little, after all he did make Cat forget about their little argument. Okay, thankful time over. "Nice one, nerd."

Robbie glared at her but didn't stop his motions, desperate to get the disgusting substance off his shoe. "What are you doing here, anyways?" Jade asked.

"I'm here with my Mamaw. She went into Fweezy Queen just a little while ago."

"Where's Rex?"

"Oh, I never bring along when I go to see my grandmother. She hates him." Robbie stopped kicking his foot and tried looking into the ice cream store from where he was standing. "I wonder what's taking her so long."

"That place is pretty crowded. I bet she's stuck in line." Jade said, surprisingly helpfully. She didn't notice how Cat's eyes had widened and was looking everywhere but at Robbie.

"Yeah, well I'd better get in there then. My grandmother has the patience of a cucumber." Robbie hurried inside the store.

Jade laughed loudly. "Use your shoe to cut in line!" She yelled before the door closed behind him. She then noticed Cat's guilty composure. "Cat?" Jade grinned evilly. "That was Robbie's grandmother you pushed, wasn't it?" Cat nodded her head, bitting her lower lip.

"Please don't tell!" Cat pleaded.

Jade smirked. "Don't worry. I won't tell a soul."

"Thanks!" Cat smiled, not sensing the evil undertone.

"Anyways, it's getting late. Aren't you parents wondering where you are?"

"Oh, yeah. I don't really know. I forgot my phone at home." Cat shrugged.

"Oh, that explains it."

"Explains what?"

"Why you didn't answer any of my phone calls or text messages when I was trying to find you." Jade said with a scowl.

"I'm sorry! I forgot!"

"It's cool, it's cool. Forget about it." Jade dismissed. She didn't want to get into another argument with Cat anyways.

"Okay." Cat said gamely, also happy to be getting along with Jade.

"Well, I'd better take you home before your dad rips me to shreds." Jade had met Cat's parents a year ago at last year's Big Showcase. They were nice, but her dad looked like the kind of person that could get pissed off easily.

"Yeah, that would be bad." Cat skipped ahead and into the parking lot. She ended up waiting for Jade because she couldn't remember where the car was parked. Jade rolled her eyes and clicked her car unlocked, lighting the car up and making itself known to Cat. Cat hurried to the passenger's side and hopped in. Yes, Jade has a black convertible. Jade got in after Cat and put the keys into the ignition. The car roared to life.

"Ready?"

"Yep!" Jade backed out of her parking spot and then drove in the direction of Cat's house.

Jade stopped in the Valentine's driveway and waited for Cat to get out of the car. "I'll see you tomorrow." Jade said, putting the car in park.

"'Kay!" Cat said happily. She looked thoughtful for a second before leaning forward and pressing her lips to Jade's. Pleasantly surprised, Jade kissed back.

Cat, after realizing she thought Jade licking the ice cream cone was 'hot', wanted to take things up a notch. She placed her hand on Jade's thigh, caressing it as they kissed. Jade took the lead, having more experience in kissing 101 than Cat, and licked Cat's lips. Not knowing what it meant but finding it delightfully sensual, Cat moaned into Jade's mouth. Jade took full advantage of this and slipped her tongue in.

Cat squeaked but didn't pull away. She leaned more into the kiss and cupped Jade's cheek with her free hand. They kissed until they needed to breath. They pulled apart panting. "T-that was amazing." Cat spoke softly, still out of breath. She moved in for another mind-blowing kiss, but Jade stopped her.

"Nope. No more kisses today. Especially since we were just making out in your driveway and your parents don't even know we are going out yet." Jade reminded her.

"Okay," Cat relented unhappily, but she perked back up as she proposed, "We can kiss tomorrow though, right?" She was eager to kiss Jade again. That kiss had felt so wonderful and left her feeling tingly.

"Sure." Jade was also looking forward to it. Cat was much more pleasant to kiss than Beck ever was. "First thing tomorrow morning, let's meet up at the stairs and pick up where we left off." Jade smiled suggestively. Cat giggled and nodded excitedly, again not getting the undertone.

"One more kiss?" Cat asked with big eyes. Jade kissed her slowly and sweetly. She really wanted to deepen it, but she restrained herself. _Until tomorrow._

Cat closed the car door behind her and waved to Jade as she opened her front door. Jade backed out of the driveway and drove home. She didn't think she'd ever looked forward to school as much as she was now.

* * *

Cat closed the door to her bedroom and jumped on her bed. She sighed happily and screamed into a pillow. She was so happy! She licked her lips and thought...

Jade still tastes like ice cream.

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**Chapter three done! And it's only been a day! Yay! Although this chapter is shorter than the rest. *EDIT: I just looked at the word count. I wrote a little over half of what I wrote for my previous chapters***

**Sorry to Robbie fans! I just had to find some way for Jade to get back at him for the soup scene. **

**I think I'm going to make my chapters shorter, but have more frequent updates. I'm not sure though. I'm a huge fan of detail and long chapters. Hmm....well I'll just see what I come up with next chapter.**

**Later~!**


	4. Mine Forever

**Chapter 4 kicks off here! Just so you know...I wrote this whole chapter on my iTouch...while waiting for my mom to pick me up from school. I wrote this in about 30 minutes. I had a brain blast and just opened my notepad app...and so here it is!**

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**Mine Forever**

Cat sat in Sikowitz's room waiting for any signs of her girlfriend. Cat got a text from Jade that morning that said she couldn't meet Cat like they'd promised. Unfortunately, Cat didn't get the text until after she had gotten to school forty-five minutes early. So she wondered the school and waited for someone she knew to show up. That didn't happen until ten minutes before school started. It was now five minutes into class. Just as Cat had predicted, Sikowitz still wasn't at school. Cat was bored out of her mind and Jade was still nowhere to be found.

So far, this day sucked.

Tori gave her depressed friend a sympathetic look from her place next to her. Cat insisted that they save a seat for Jade, but Tori was beginning to doubt that Jade will show up. Although it was really funny how Robbie tried to sit down in the saved seat...Cat pushed him off four times. Rex eventually convinced him to just give up and sit in a different seat. He now sat up front with a forlorn look on his face.

Cat bounced her leg impatiently, about ready to snap at anyone who wanted to talk to her. Again, unfortunately for Cat, that person was the substitute teacher. "Miss Valentine, will you please do some work instead of just sitting there."

"Well, why don't you do something besides sitting there, playing with your Pear Phone, while looking like a lazy butt?" Cat insulted the kind teacher. A vein grew visibly in his neck. Cat squeaked and quickly apologized. "I'm soo sorry, Mr, uh, Mr...."

"...egg head."

"Mr. Egghead." Cat froze and turned to her left. Tori stared at her with wide eyes. She gave her a sheepish look, whispering sorry. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say 'egg head'!"

"My name is Mr. Worthing. And I don't appreciate your sense of humor, Miss Valentine." Mr. Worthing said with an unkind glare.

"I wasn't trying to be funny! I just--"

"I've heard enough out of you, Miss Valentine." He said, his face stony. "I think you ought to go wait outside until class is over. Take your stuff with you."

Cat 'aww'ed before picked up her backpack, sparring a an angry look at Tori. Cat walked of class and headed straight to the staircase.

"Today stinks!" Cat said frustratingly. She sat down on the stairs and dumped her backpack by her feet. She left like crying. Why was this day doing so wrong? _It's because Jade isn't here._ Cat rationalized.

"Well, well, well. Looks like someone got kicked out of class," said the most lovely voice Cat had ever heard. Jade walked in the rest of the way, the door slamming shut behind. Cat forgot all about her bad luck and jumped to her feet.

"You're finally here!" Cat exclaimed, running to Jade. "Where have you been? I've been waiting and waiting for you." Cat wasn't lying. She had been waiting for over fifty minutes.

"Yeeaah, my mom managed to lose the keys to her car, so I had to spend the last seventy-five minutes helping her look for them." Jade ranted and Cat couldn't help but smile. It looked like both of them were having a horrible day. "Guess where they were?"

"Umm her pocket?" Cat made an educated guess. Whenever her mom lost something it always ended up being in whatever she wore the day before.

"I wish!" Jade said grimly, flinging her arms back. "No, they were in the pool...in the deep end."Cat wanted to laugh but Jade looked super upset.

"So you just used a pool skimmer to get it?" Cat asked, trying to ease Jade's tension.

"No," was all Jade said before walking up the stairs. It was then that Cat noticed Jade's damp hair. _Oh, no._ Cat thought.

"W-what's wrong with your pool skimmer?" Cat nervously asked.

"The net has a whole in it." Jade answered simply.

"So you..." Cat trailed off.

"Yep, that's right. I had to jump in and get them." Jade spun around and grabbed Cat's shoulders. "And it was _really_ cold." Cat shivered and nodded in understanding. Jade sighed and let go of her shoulders. She walked up to her locker and opening it after turning her combination.

"How about we get some hot chocolate then?" Cat proposed cheerfully.

Jade pulled out her books from out of her locker and put them in her backpack. "That sounds really good right now." Jade agreed and slammed her locker shut. "Oh, and about this morning, I--"

"It's okay." Cat forgave her. "I understand." Jade raised an eyebrow. "Let's just say we've both been having a sucky day." Jade's eyebrow stayed raised. "I'll tell you about it later. Right now I really want some hot chocolate!"

Jade shook her head with a grin. "Okay, let's go across the street and get some." Neither of them thought about school. They just walked out.

* * *

Jade warmed her cold hands on her styrofoam cup of hot chocolate. She was in a rare sooth state of peace. She sipped at her warm beverage, letting the drink warm her body and mind. Cat was also in a similar state of mind, though she was mostly happy that cup had marshmallows and whip cream in it. _Yummy!_ Apparently her bad luck had yet to stop. She drank too much and burned her tongue. _Ow!_ Cat retracted her tongue and drink and waved a hand at hand at her mouth.

Jade quickly grabbed the bottle of water she'd also bought and handed it to Cat, also taking Cat's hot chocolate. Cat unscrewed the top and took a long gulp of water. Cat pulled the bottle from her lips and gasped for breath. "Thanks, Jade." Cat said with the utmost gratitude.

"No prob. Wouldn't want you to lose your tongue."

"Lose my tongue?" Cat freaked. "Can that happen? I love my tongue!" Cat brought her hands up to her mouth as if trying to protect it.

"You're not going to lose your tongue." Jade consoled her in an amused tone while handing back her hot chocolate.

"Phew!" Cat wiped invisible sweat from her brow. "That's a relief." She glared at her cup. "I forgive you for hurting me." She took a small swig of her drink. "Sooo good!"

Jade rolled her eyes and threw away her empty cup. She took out her phone and checked the time. "It looks like class is just ending. We should probably head back." Cat nodded, feeling somewhat disappointed. She walked next to Jade on the way back to school.

As they crossed the street, Cat reached for Jade's hand and squeezed. Jade ran her thumb over the back of Cat's hand and Cat smiled at the sensation. Feeling chivalrous all of a sudden, Jade held the door to the school open for Cat to walk in first. Cat grinned and skipped in, pulling Jade in behind her. People were hurrying to get to class and one guy almost ran into Cat, but Jade instinctively pulled her out of harm's way.

Since their classes were in opposite directions, Cat let go of Jade's hand and said a quick goodbye before heading towards her next class. However, Jade stopped her. Cat was about to question why but a simple kiss to her cheek was all the explanation she needed. She watched Jade walk away before skipping to history class.

She sat down in her assigned seat next to Eli and Tori. Tori looked exasperated as she also sat down. "I was looking for you everywhere! Where were you?"

"I was with Jade getting hot chocolate." Cat said with a big smile.

Tori smirked. "Oh, well I bet you had a good time." Tori teased.

"I did! But I burned my tongue when I drank. But Jade had a bottle of water so my tongue was saved." Cat told her 'suspenseful' experience.

"Umm okay...good to know."

Cat's attention was then drawn to Beck, who was just entering the classroom. He sat to her right, three seats ahead. She never really liked him. Once she figured out she had a crush on Jade, she considered Beck a threat.

Beck was nice, charming, and good looking, not to mention masculine. So it was only natural that Cat was shocked to find out that Jade broke up with him. They dated for one year and eleven months—Cat was starting to fell an unpleasant feeling in her stomach. Just thinking about Jade's old relationship with beck made her stomach churn.

Those days were very hard for Cat. Watching Jade make out with Beck both inside and outside of class had been unbearable. And many of her nights were tear filled. _But she's mine now._ Cat thought possessively. _And I'm gonna be with her forever!_ She stuck her tongue out at Beck, but she had to quickly suck it back in when Beck turned around abruptly.

He addressed Tori. "Hey, have you seen Jade today?" Cat tensed, suddenly feeling uneasy. This was the first time Beck had asked about Jade since they broke up three days ago.

"No, I haven't, but Cat says she's here. Why?" Tori asked suspiciously.

"I kind of have to talk to her. Things didn't end that good and I said some pretty harsh things. I just really need to find her." Beck rubbed the back of his neck. "Can you tell her I'll be waiting by my locker?"

"Uhh, I dunno--" Tori also looked uncomfortable, not sure what to do.

"Please, just tell her." Beck turned around and faced forward.

Tori exchanged a look with Cat. "Should we tell her?" Cat really wanted to say no, but something in her gut made her say 'yes'.

* * *

Jade sat down in the free space next to Cat. "Hey."

Cat forced a smile and took her hand under the table. She really didn't like the idea of Jade and Beck talking alone...but she knew Jade wouldn't hurt her.

Jade seemed to notice Cat's uncertainty, also sensing the same thing from Tori, who was staring at them from across the lunch table. "What up?"

"Beck is looking for you!" Cat burst out, cringing at how loud that was.

Jade blinked. "Huh?"

Tori butted in, "Beck asked us to tell you he is waiting by his locker. He says he wants to talk with you." Jade groaned and rested her head in her hand, the other squeezing Cat's.

After a moment she sighed and stood up, releasing Cat's hand as she did so. "I'll be back in a few." Cat nodded and Jade went inside. Cat lost all of her fake cheerfulness and slumped in her seat.

"It'll be okay, Cat." Tori comforted.

"What's that supposed to mean...?" Cat asked lowly, dropping her head to the table.

"Jade isn't the kind of person to just get back together with someone when she is already with someone else." Tori said, trying to find some way to ease Cat's mind. But she knew only Jade had that kind of power.

"I know that already." Cat sighed. "I'm just getting this bad feeling and my tummy's hurting."

"Did you eat something bad?" André asked, just coming into the conversation, so he didn't really know the context.

Cat shook her head. "I'm going to the bathroom." She got up and left, leaving her friends concerned.

Cat walked through the hallway, trying to decide which restroom she should go to. She opted for the one near Sikowitz's room and was on her way there when she spotted Jade and Beck sitting on the stairs.

Jade was running a hand through her hair as Beck spoke to her. Cat didn't like how close they were sitting, it make her blood boil. She didn't like these foreign feelings. She continued onwards and was just about to turn the corner when she saw something that made her stop dead in her tracks. They were hugging. Cat let out an unintentional gasp, making her presence known.

"Cat?" Beck asked while letting go of his ex-girlfriend. Jade's head snapped up and her eyes widened, worried that Cat had gotten the wrong idea.

"I-I was just going to wash my hands. S-sorry!" Cat rushed the rest of the way into the girls' bathroom.

"Wait, Cat!" Jade called after her fleeing girlfriend. She stood up and began following after her.

"What's up with her?" Beck asked, running a hand through his long hair.

"I think she got the wrong idea." Jade frowned. She couldn't stand the idea of hurting Cat's feelings..._again_. _I'm the worst girlfriend ever..._

"And why would that matter?" Beck didn't know Cat and Jade were friends. This was all news to him.

Jade huffed. "Because she's my _girlfriend_!" With that said she went down the hallway.

"WHAT?"

Jade ignored him and continued on. Cat was her focus right now. No one else. She threw open the bathroom door and hurried inside. She released a breath when she saw that Cat wasn't crying. If she had analyzed the situation better, Jade would have realized that Cat was waiting for her to show up.

Cat walked right into Jade's open arms. She took a deep breath then released it with a long sigh. _This_ is where she was supposed to be. "Why were you hugging him?" Cat asked, still clinging to Jade.

"We were saying goodbye properly." Jade explained, running her hands over Cat's back. Cat hummed and relaxed in the embrace. "So you're not upset?" Jade was wondering what was going through her girlfriend's head.

"Nope. I knew you wouldn't hurt me on purpose." Cat lifted her head to gaze at her Jade. "Right?"

"Of course I wouldn't!" Jade dismissed. "But t-thanks for trusting me..." It felt so foreign on Jade's lips. She flushed and looked away when Cat's eyes started to shine.

"Aww! You said something really sweet!" Cat gushed. "You should do that more often."

Jade snorted. "Yeah, right! Like that'll ever happen. Then people would start _liking_ me!"

Cat thought for a minute before shaking her head. "On second thought, never mind. I want you allll to myself." Cat squeezed Jade tightly.

Jade blushed again but said nothing. They continued to hug in silence.

"Hey, Jade?" Cat asked, speaking softly so the peacefulness wouldn't be broken. "Will you be mine forever?"

"...yeah."

* * *

**Oh my god. I'm sooo sorry for the crappy cheesy ending. I just couldn't think of anything...besides at least one chapter has to have a ridiculously cheesy ending...but I dunno if this one will be it.**

**This chapter is over...super short sorry! But the next chapter will be longer, promise! And it won't take place at Hollywood Arts. I wanted to update right away because next update won't be til later. I'll try writing a lot over the weekend, but school is coming to end in a few weeks so I've got a lot of finals studying to do...bleh.**

**Wish me luck!**


	5. Beach Trips and Roommate Madness

**Chapter 5! Yay! Just thought of an idea...hopefully you guys will like it. 5/13/10**

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* * *

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**Beach Trip and Roommate Madness**

Tori sat on her couch on Saturday morning, waiting for Trina to finish 'beautifying' herself and for the others to arrive. Since it was a four day weekend, Tori and her friends, yes, Jade included, decided they wanted to take a trip to the beach. Well Jade was sort of opposed to it, but Cat convinced her otherwise. Everyone was going; Tori, André, Trina, Cat, Jade, and even Beck. Robbie was the only one who turned down the invitation; said something about his grandmother hurting her back at an ice cream shop.

Unfortunately, Trina was the only one who could drive...well there's Jade, but she didn't want to drive eight hours straight. Trina was more than willing to do it, the reason why was unknown.

It was now 7 in the morning and Trina _still_ wasn't ready. Tori debated whether or not to barge into her room...

"Ya, know. There's something called _knocking_. Ever heard of it?" Tori imagined her sister yelling at her. She sighed and seemed to drift further into the couch. _It's too early to even think about having a fight with Trina._

Tori opened her laptop and signed on to and updated her status. The doorbell rang and Tori sprang to her feet. Rushing to the door, she opened it to reveal André and Beck. "Hey there, muchacha. Ready to go?"

"_I_ am. But Trina has yet to come down from her room." Tori informed them. "Plus, Jade and Cat aren't here yet."

"Well, how long has she been in there?" Beck asked, referring to Trina.

Tori gave him a look before saying, "Two hours and..." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "seventeen minutes."

"Wow," was the only thing both André and Beck could utter before the doorbell rang again. André turned around the opened the door for Jade and Cat.

"Okay, we're here. Let's get this over with." Jade said tiredly, rubbing the back of her neck. She had to literally roll out of bed that morning. If it hadn't been for her cellphone constant ringing, she'd still be in her warm bed...Jade glared at Cat from the corner of her eye and Cat just smiles cheerfully back. Jade rolled her eyes, but put her arm around Cat's shoulders anyways.

Everyone started to leave until Tori shouted, "Wait! Aren't we forgetting someone?" They looked around at each other. Tori groaned. "Trina!"

"I said I'd be down in a minute!" Trina yelled from upstairs.

"That's what you said two hours and ten minutes ago!" Tori yelled back. She sighed and faced the two boys in the group. "Can you guys load our stuff in the van?" They nodded and turned to leave the house.

"Where's your guys's stuff?" Beck asked the cuddly couple.

"On the front lawn." Cat said.

Beck blinked confusedly. "Uhh, why?"

"'Cause Jade didn't want to carry them all the in here."

"So, why didn't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Beck raised his hands in surrender and quickly left to pick up their stuff.

"Is she coming down or what?" Jade asked with a scowl aimed at Tori.

"Trina! Get down here!" Tori screamed at her vain sister.

"God, be patient!" was her response...

"That would be a 'no'." Tori said running a hand through her hair.

Jade released an annoyed noise. She let go of Cat and stormed up the stairs. "W-wait! Jade, where are you going?" Tori called after her, but it was too late.

Cat and Tori stood there awkwardly, listening to the screams and cries, and the loud crashes that sounded from Trina's room. Seconds later, Jade was pulling Trina down the stairs by her hair.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," Trina cried over and over until her hair was finally released. She stroked her hair and glared at Jade. "I don't even know you!"

Jade ignored her and crossed her arms. "Look, she's here. Let's go already!" As you can see, Jade was known for her '_incredible'_ patience. Cat merely took her hand and she calmed down some.

"Okay, okay, let's get the guys and go." Tori lead the way out the door. Tori and Trina's dad kindly lent them his red mini van for the trip. It was parked in the driveway just waiting to be driven. Trina squealed and hopped into the driver's seat.

"Why are you so excited?" Tori asked with a raised eyebrow has she got into the right side of the van.

"Because the driver gets full control over the music we listen to!" Trina said in a high pitched voice as she changed radio stations. _Oh, great._ Everyone shared the same thoughts as they sat down.

André sat shotgun, Tori and Beck sat on the left and right sides, and Cat and Jade sat in the way back. No surprise, Cat decided to sit in the middle closest to Jade. She smiled excitedly at her girlfriend and fastened her waist seatbelt. Jade probably would have looked a little more excited if she wasn't collapsing from exhaustion. 'You owe me' Jade mouthed to Cat.

In no time, Trina started the van and began their long drive to Santa Monica Beach. Everyone was doing their own thing; André was tuning his ukulele, Trina was honking at random cars, Tori and Beck were in deep conversation, and Cat and Jade were just hanging out.

Cat knew Jade was way too tired to talk, so she just let her rest. In record time, Jade's head landed on the top of Cat's. Though Cat found it very awkward and heavy, she allowed Jade to stay where she was.

"Aww! That's so sweet!" Tori cooed from her place ahead of them. "I never thought Jade would be the cuddly type."

Jade's head snapped up. "I'm not!" Even though she denied it, Cat knew the truth.

"Just go to sleep." Cat said gently, easing Jade's head onto her shoulder. "I wanna play with you once we get to the beach." Jade relented and allowed herself to drift off...

Until the van swerved. Everyone except Trina and Jade screamed at the sudden turn.

"Trina!" André yelled at the crazy driver. "What are you doing?"

"That guy is going to too slow! I'm passing him!" Trina yelled back. "Move out of the way!" She honked and sped up. Jade groaned and cursed out loud.

"Jade!" Cat scolded. She hated foul language.

"I can't sleep with _her _driving!"

"Trina! Slow down! You're gonna kill us!" Tori screeched. She was holding onto her seat for dear life.

"Do you guys want to get to the beach before sunset or what?"

"Well, I'd rather be alive when we get there! And actually in a van instead of a rolling tire, which we will be on unless you slow down!" Tori said in a freaky high pitched voice.

Trina didn't hear her over the honking.

"That's it! I'm driving!" Jade climbed over the seats and practically into André's lap. Cat 'aww'ed, pouting because she lost her cuddle partner.

"Ya know, you could ask her to pull over first!" André said embarrassingly, not comfortable with Jade on his leg.

"Trina, pull over _now_." Jade hissed, and Trina was reminded of the 'incident' in her room. She signaled and quickly pulled over. "Thank you." She breathed and climbed off of André's lap as Trina got out of the van.

Jade sighed and adjusted the mirrors and seat. She realized how much taller she was than Trina. She had to move the seat back _a lot_. As she moved the front mirror, she saw Cat's disappointed face. She caught Cat's eye and smiled a little, mouthing 'sorry'. Cat shook her head and blew her a kiss. Jade put the van in drive and signaled onto the freeway.

The car ride was long and tedious. Trina complained the _whole way_ there. Jade had refused to listened to any of Trina's loud music because she already had a headache. The others just chatted animately.

They checked into their hotel rooms, three of them. André and Beck in one room, Cat and Tori, and Jade and Trina in the other two rooms. Normally, Tori and Trina would have roomed together, but Jade and Cat weren't ready to stay in the same room yet. Jade and Trina weren't at all thrilled that they had to stay in the same room.

Unfortunately, they didn't get to their hotel 'til evening so it was too dark to go to the beach. Trina blamed it on Jade's safe driving. "Well, at least I got us here!" Jade retorted darkly. The four friends looked at each other and knew that those two weren't going to get along at all. _They are going to scream at each other all night_... They thought at the same time.

Everyone left to their shared rooms, Tori and Cat exchanging worried glances. Jade and Trina just glared at each other, fighting their way into their room.

"Just stay on your side of the room." Trina said irritably.

"Whatever." They both unpacked and used the bathroom separately.

Cat and Tori, on the other hand, were getting along perfectly well. They were laying on their beds and giggling at something Tori said. They stopped when they heard shouting from Trina and Jade's room.

"Are they ever going to stop arguing?" Tori asked in exasperation.

Cat shrugging unhelpfully. "I dunno. But I do know they are going to be super grumpy tomorrow." She sighed. She was really looking forward to this trip; she was hoping for some one-on-one time with Jade, but it didn't look like Jade will be in a good enough mood to do anything. She released an overly dramatic sigh and flipped onto her back.

"What's wrong?" Tori asked concerned for her odd friend.

Cat stared at the ceiling before asking, "Do you think I should have roomed with Jade?"

Tori smiled. "I dunno. Should you have?"

Cat flipped back over and ranted, "Well, I think I should have, but I'm scared..."

"About what?" Tori asked, extremely curious.

"Well...sometimes I just want to pin Jade to a wall and kiss her all over...what if she doesn't like that?" Cat said, her forehead crinkling in worry.

Tori raised an eyebrow and giggled. "Wow, Cat. I didn't think you could be so...assertive."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cat hugged her pillow close to her.

"Nothing, nothing. You just seem so innocent." Tori sat up and leaned against the headboard. She stretched her legs out in front of her and turned her head to look at Cat. "Of course Jade would like it."

"Really?" Cat perked up considerably.

"Yes, really. Jade would like anything..._anything_." She giggled at Cat's reddening face. "I'm just kidding. I mean, I have no idea if Jade is into that kind of stuff."

Cat nodded and got underneath the covers. "I kinda want to know..."

Tori smirked and said in a low whisper, "Maybe you should fine out." Cat nodded thoughtfully before closing her eyes.

* * *

Jade groaned and opened her eyes. She got up slowly and practically crawled to the door, where someone was banging on it from the other side. She opened the door and shouted, "What?" Cat stood there, wide-eyed and scared.

"S-sorry, Jade! It's just—It's almost noon and you and Trina didn't show up for breakfast so..." Cat stared at her feet and bit her lip.

Jade rubbed her eyes and took Cat's hand unexpectedly. "Come inside." She yawned, pulling Cat into her room. "You can help me wake _that one_ up." She pointed at Trina, who had on a sleeping mask. "She snores like a pig." Jade said grimly. There were several times that Jade just wanted to suffocate Trina with a pillow. Cat offered her girlfriend a comforting smile and rubbed her arm lovingly.

"I'm sorry." Jade just shook her head.

"It's cool. She's just driving me crazy. I have no idea how Tori can deal with her every single day." She even felt like asking, she was seriously curious.

Cat giggled and walked over to the sleeping Trina. "Trina," She shook her. "Wake up, Trina." She shook her shoulders some more.

Trina pulled off her mask and sat up, looking like the living dead. "Why are you waking me up so goddamn early?"

"It's 11:23." Cat informed her.

"So, what's your point?" Trina usually slept in 'til 1 in the afternoon on weekends.

Jade rolled her eyes. "Do you wanna go to the beach or not?" Trina groaned and started digging through her drawers for something to wear.

Jade turned to Cat and told her that they would be down in fifteen minutes. "I'll make sure of it." Jade winked and kissed Cat lightly on the lips before walking her to the door. "See you then." She closed the door and walked to the bathroom. She opened the door and walked inside...

Jade ran out of the room as fast as she could. "Why aren't you wearing any clothes?" She was now emotionally scarred.

"You could have knocked!" Trina said, sounding very annoyed and feeling violated.

"You could have locked the door!" Jade yelled, burying her face in a pillow. She couldn't get Trina out of her head. _It burns!_

Fifteen minutes later, Jade and Trina walked out of the elevator to meet up with their friends. Jade wouldn't even spare a glance at Trina, the image of Trina still fresh in her mind. She shuddered in disgust. She was switching rooms. No doubt about it.

"Finally!" Beck exclaimed when he saw them come into view. "I was beginning to think you two killed each other." Jade and Trina rolled their eyes. _I wish_ They both thought, giving each other fake smiles.

Cat hurried over to Jade's side and hugged her. Jade calmed down significantly and pet Cat's head. Trina rolled her eyes and picked at her nails. "So, did you guys already change into your swimsuits?" André asked. Jade's eyes widened and she gagged.

"Jade?" Cat asked worriedly, putting her hand to Jade's forehead. "You look like you're going to be sick." Jade shook her head and swallowed hard.

"N-nothing. It's nothing." Trina glared at Jade and slapped her shoulder.

Jade grabbed Cat's hand and pulled her towards the front door. "Can we go now? Good, let's go _now._" André, Tori, and Beck exchanged glances before following after the retreating girls.

* * *

Jade was laid out on a beach towel. Her sunglasses covered most of her face so no one could tell that she was dozing off. Cat, Tori, and André were throwing around a great big beach ball. It was probably as big as all of their heads combined. Right when Jade looked up, Tori had managed to spike the ball in André's face. Jade watched Cat as she splashed water at her two laughed friends.

Jade raked her eyes all over her red-headed girlfriend. She had to admit...Cat looked hot in her red polka dot bikini. Cat caught Jade staring, so she blushed and waved. Jade gave a small wave in return and returned to concentrating on getting some rest.

Beck, on the other hand, was trying his luck at surfing. It wasn't going so well. So far, an old lady had laughed at him when he fell off his board on one of the smallest waves in history, and a little boy showed him up. Right now, Beck's self-confidence wasn't very high.

"Just give up, Beck." André said to him when he washed up on shore. "You're never gonna surf."

"Thanks, man. Appreciate it." Beck said while shaking his wet hair.

"No problem." André smacked the ball back at Cat.

Jade rolled her eyes when yet another guy started flirting with her. "Leave, now." She let them know that she wasn't interested. She'd already had to pour lemonade down their shorts twice. She didn't at all enjoy how three guys walked up to _her_ girlfriend.

"Hey, you wanna play some volleyball with us?" one blonde guy asked Cat.

"No thank. I'd rather play with my friends." Cat said honestly. She didn't like these guys. They smelled funny and they were giving her weird looks.

A cute shirtless guy stepped forward and put his arm around Jade's petite girlfriend. Jade growled and marched over to the gathering group. "C'mon, baby. Just play with us for a while. We'll go easy on you." He said suavely.

"I told you 'no'." Cat said, narrowing her eyes at the very forward men. She was getting worked up and she definently didn't appreciate his arm around her. There was only one person who was allowed to do that, and she was coming closer and closer. Jade looked furious.

Tori, André, and Beck looked on with wide eyes. "Something tells me this is gonna get messy." André and Beck nodded, continuing to watch the scene unfold.

Jade tapped the shirtless guy's shoulder. "Why don't you get your arm off _my_ girlfriend." She said it like a command.

"Ooohh, lesbians!" He said with a cocky grin.

Jade smacked the arm that was around Cat. He winced and let go; getting bare skin slapped wasn't fun. "Excuse me?" Jade hadn't even considered herself a lesbian. She still liked guys...but Cat was just more appealing.

"You should come hang out with us too...you and your girlfriend can, uhh, _entertain_ us." Cat didn't like how he said 'entertaining'.

"My friend's dad's a cop." Jade said with a warning tone. The guys' eyes widened in alarm and they quickly dispersed.

Tori smirked. "Soo...I'm your friend now?"

Jade glared at her and said, "Well, I couldn't say 'my not-so-friend's dad is a cop!" Tori only grinned and nodded.

Cat sighed in relief and leaned against her, thankfully, protective girlfriend. "That was scary." Jade held her tightly and ran a hand through gorgeous, but slightly damp, red hair.

"Guys! Guys! Lookie over here!" Trina shouted to them from Jade's beach towel. Looked like she finally finished shopping. She was wearing a brand new white sparkling hat.

"You were right, Trina! Your head does have the perfect shape!" Tori yelled to her with a thoughtful nod of her head.

Trina smiled. "I told you so!"

* * *

Jade collapsed on Tori's bed, which was closest to the door, with a sigh. _So comfy. _With Trina's beast-like snores Jade hadn't gotten any sleep. She was going to ask Cat if she could switch rooms with her. Plus, Cat and Trina got along better than her and Trina.

Tori was in Jade and Trina's with room talking with Trina, so she and Cat were alone. Cat sat more gracefully on her bed. "Cat?" Jade said, her voice was muffled. "Can I switch rooms with you?"

Cat smiled. "Can't handle it?"

Jade lifted her face and sighed. "She's driving me absolutely nuts!" Jade felt like ripping her hair out when Trina was around. She was just so annoying.

"I think she's kinda nice...when she's not yelling." Cat tilted her head to the side.

"Which is why you should switch rooms with me." Jade said logically.

"Umm...actually...I thought _we _could share a room." Cat said nervously.

Jade sat up and regarded Cat curiously. "You want to share a room with me?" She couldn't help but grin a little bit.

"Yeah..." Cat twisted a strand of her hair nervously. "I-Is that okay?"

"Of course it's okay." Jade said, pulling Cat into a hug. "I'd rather have you as a roommate than Trina any day."

"Oh." Cat said, feeling disappointed. She hoped that Jade would have thought more on the lines of their relationship. She wanted to be with Jade all the time. Did Jade feel the same?

"I didn't mean it like that." Jade said carefully. "I like the idea of sleeping in the same room as you." Cat nuzzled Jade's neck in embarrassment. "Not like _that!_ Pervert." Jade laughed. "You're my girlfriend. I like being around you." Now Jade was feeling embarrassed. She still wasn't used to being affectionate like this.

Cat smiled into Jade's neck and kissed her skin gleefully. "Me too." She looked up and pulled away slightly.

Cat tucked a piece of hair that was on Jade's face and leaned in. She kissed her sweetly. Jade deepened the kiss and wrapped her arms around Cat's thin waist. Jade fell back on the bed, taking Cat with her. Cat ran her hands all over Jade's head until they settled on her flushed cheeks. Jade's hands were stroking Cat's back up and down. Cat purred into the kiss, sending vibrations through Jade's mouth.

Jade's tongue strayed out and licked Cat's lips. Cat granted her entrance and they explored each other's mouths. They didn't hear the door open or close, or Tori's greeting. They didn't hear the footsteps that suddenly stopped by the bed.

"Don't make out on _my_ bed!" Tori screeched. "Use Cat's!" The two broke apart panting, but they didn't move from their positions. Tori rolled her eyes and started packing up her stuff.

"What are you doing?" Cat asked, her face red from being caught making out.

"Trina begged me to switch rooms with Jade. I hope you guys are fine rooming with each other." She looked at Cat, knowing this was exactly what she wanted. Cat smiled and nodded.

"Yep. We're perfectly fine with it."

Tori grinned and finished packing her stuff in her suitcase. "I'll see you guys in the morning. And remember, _behave_." Cat turned scarlet while Jade just rolled her eyes.

"I'll get my stuff too, I guess." Jade sighed. Cat reluctantly got off Jade and Jade walked with Tori to Trina and Tori's room.

* * *

Jade was all settled in her new room. She took Tori's old bed because Cat had this phobia of sleeping too close to a door in a hotel room. 'Someone could come in and kill me in the night!' Cat told her. 'So, you'd rather some random murder kill _me_ in the night?' Jade asked. Cat just smiled.

Jade sighed and turned off the light. She got in bed and was just about asleep when Cat asked, "Did you lock the door?"

"I dunno, yes."

"Can you check?"

"No."

"Pleeeaaase?" Cat begged and Jade knew that if she could see, Cat would be giving her puppy dog eyes. She sighed and slipped out of bed. She checked the locks and staggered back to bed.

"The door's locked." She yawned and got back under the covers. It was silent for a while before Cat broke the silence once again.

"Goodnight, Jade."

"'Night, babe." Jade winced when she said this.

"Hmm..." Cat thought out loud. "I like that."

Jade relaxed and yawned again. "Good, 'cause you're going to be hearing that a lot more often."

"Okay, _honey_. Hmm..._sweetie?_" Cat ran through all of the possible pet names.

"...Cat. Call me 'sweetie-pie' and I'll have to throw you in the ocean tomorrow." Jade warned. Cat squeaked and shut up.

She would decide in the morning.

* * *

**God, this took so long! I spent the last 3 hours working on this...It was longer just like I promised! I'm just about to reward myself with an appleblossom with vanilla ice cream! XD**

**Sorry for the delay! . I'll try to update sooner rather than later, but ya know, school.**


	6. Not So First Date

**5/22 Hahaha! I found it funny that I almost of Cat's actual bikini exactly right! It's actually bright yellow, not red.**

**Sorry for not updating sooner. Just been busy with end of the year projects. Just went to my friend's house to make chocolate chip cookies for French class. We had to video tape ourselves making it, but I dunno how much footage we can use...we were messing around too much...plus we spent most of the time playing his Wii. Totally kicked his butt at Mario Kart. XD**

**I'm so excited for the Lost final episode tomorrow! Anyone else?**

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**Not So First Date**

There were a lot of things Jade liked about Cat. Her smile, her sweet personality, and even her airhead moments. Cat was cute. Her eyes were large and a smile was permanently stretched her face. But what Jade noticed in particular, was the little dimple on the left side of Cat's face.

Jade reached out and lightly touched Cat's dimple. Cat pulled away bewildered, but she hurried back almost immediately and leaned against the palm of Jade's hand. "What are you doing?" Cat asked, though she didn't really care.

"You've got a dimple on only one side of your face." Jade said, stating the obvious. "It's kinda adorable." Cat blushed and pressed her cheek harder into Jade's hand.

"I don't like it. It makes me look childish." Cat pouted. Jade rolled her eyes. _The face fits the personality..._

Jade rolled away and got out of bed. She had to admit...she liked how Cat woke her up that morning.

"_Jade! Get uuup!" Cat whined and shook her out-cold girlfriend's shoulders. "I'm booored! Jaaade!" Cat thought about resorting to crying, but she brushed aside that idea and thought of a new one. She slowly got into bed with the sleeping girl and slid as close to her as possible. But once she settled down, she started to think that maybe she should let Jade sleep so Cat could stay in this comfy position for a little while longer. However, her stomach forced away that pleasure. Cat was starving and she really wanted to eat out with Jade._

_Cat moved so she was hovering just above Jade's lips. She watched Jade's reaction as she closed the small gap..._

_Jade's eyes shot open and her cheeks tinted pink. She pushed Cat away and gasped for breath. "Cat!" Jade was now fully awake._

Jade stretched her torso and ran a hand through her messy hair. Cat, who was very happy Jade was awake, followed her into the bathroom and bombarded her with excited questions. Jade winced and took Cat's hand. Cat quieted down and watched as Jade brushed her long hair.

"Okay, so I could only make out two things that you said." Jade turned on the faucet and washed her face. When she was done, Cat gave her a clean towel to dry herself with. "I heard 'can we get food' and something else about bacon." Cat smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"I really want some bacon and potatoes! I love potatoes!" Cat shared with Jade. Jade stored that information in her memory while putting her hands on her hips.

"Why didn't you wake Tori up then? You could have gone with her instead of waking me up." Jade was grumpy, despite the kiss.

Cat frowned and took one step closer. "I really wanted you to come with me. Just you and me. No one else."

"So, like on a date?" Jade inquired, getting distracted by the close proximity.

"Yes!" Cat grinned, happy Jade caught on. "I wanna go on a date with you!"

Jade nodded finding it totally logical. They hadn't had their first date yet and it's already been..._Four days?_ _Crap, I can't even remember. Time goes by quickly with this little red-head._ "Alright."

"Yay!" Cat hopped around in circles. "This is so exciting!" Cat looked like she could burst from happiness.

"Yeah, yeah, now leave so I can get ready." Jade pushed Cat out of the bathroom and closed the door. That didn't phase Cat one bit. She squealed and jumped on her bed. She grabbed her pillow and swing it around as she sang a very upbeat song.

Jade shook her head at her insane girlfriend and started applying her eyeliner.

Fifteen minutes later, Cat and Jade left the hotel in search of a nice restaurant. Most of the restaurants were for dinner only, so they settled for iHop. Cat hugged Jade's arm as they crossed the street. "Bacon and potatoes!" Cat repeated over and over, obviously starving. Jade rolled her eyes and opened the door for her small girlfriend.

Jade bit back a sigh when she saw Tori and Trina sitting at a table in the corner of the restaurant. _Great. Maybe Cat won't notice?_

"Hey, guys!" Tori shouted from her table. Jade winced and slapped a hand to her face. "What are you doing here? In the mood for some waffles too?"

"Actually, bacon and hash browns." Jade said while running a hand through her hair. So much for their date.

"Yeah! I love the crushed potato pieces!" Cat said with zeal.

"...those are called hash browns, Cat." Tori said, looking at Cat with a frown.

"Oh, yeah." Cat tilted her head and twirled a strand of hair around her index finger.

Tori shook her head at Cat and looked at Jade, who looked slightly annoyed. "So, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing. We were hoping to get some one-on-one time with each other, but here you guys are!" Jade said with fake happiness, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, like I enjoy seeing you." Trina said with a scoff, not even looking up from the menu.

Jade glared and stomped over to the table. She grabbed the menu from Trina's manicured fingers and slammed it on the table. "Ya, know, I'm really getting tired of your attitude, your presence, and just _you_." Jade growled angrily, glaring daggers.

Trina glared right back and stood up. "How dare you talk to me like that! I am Trina Vega and I demand respect!" She stomped her foot on the ground.

Cat rushed over and pulled them apart. "Stop it! Stop it!" Trina and Jade huffed and turned their backs to each other. Cat's eyes were blurry with tears. Today was supposed to be a wonderful day. "Can't you guys get along for five minutes?" Cat shouted angrily, refusing to let her tears fall. "This is supposed to be a fun trip, but it's turning out to be a disaster." Cat sniffed and turned to Jade. "Can we please just go? I wanna go back to our room." Cat knew she wouldn't be able to hold back her tears for much longer. She'd rather cry in the safety of Jade's arms in a quiet room than in a crowded restaurant.

Jade softened and turned around so she could get a good look at her distressed girlfriend. She saw her tears and reached out to cup her cheek. _I'm making her cry again..._ Jade cursed herself and stroked Cat's red cheek.

Cat's breath hitched and she felt a sob forming in the back of her throat. She grasped Jade's arm and pulled hard. "We need to go, now."

Tori watched them leave and then she angrily turned to her egotistical sister. Boy, she was going to get a _long_ lecture.

* * *

Jade opened the door to their room and followed Cat inside.

Once Jade closed the door, Cat spun around and rushed into her arms. Her dams broke and she cried. Jade didn't know what to do; It was her fault that Cat was crying again. She just let her arms hang loosely around Cat and she looked away in shame.

Cat's desperate voice shook her out of her self-loathing. "Please...please hold me." Cat whimpered and clung tighter to Jade. Jade squeezed Cat closer to her heart and rested her chin on the top of Cat's head. "T-thank you." Cat whispered hoarsely.

"Shhhh..." Jade silenced her and kissed her head. "It's my fault. You shouldn't be thanking me." She listened to Cat's sobs for a moment before asking, "Why aren't you mad at me? You should be kicking and screaming at me for ruining our date, but you're not. Why?"

Cat sniffed and pulled away slightly. "Because..." Cat trailed off. "How can I be mad at you?" She answered with a question of her own.

"Because I'm a cold, selfish, bitch!" Jade answered immediately. She knew that was how she acted anyway. Tough, unlovable, untouchable. She let go of Cat and paced the room.

"No, you're not." Cat said in a thick voice. She hated it when people put down Jade, and now she was finding herself hating it more when Jade put herself down. "You're not. I know you're not."

"Yes, I am!" Jade swung her arms down to emphasize her seriousness. "Why can't you see that?" She knew Cat was nice, but this was just ridiculous.

"Because I love you! And I really can't stand you calling yourself names!" Cat gasped and covered her mouth. She blurted out the 'L' word to Jade! It was now an appropriate time to say a foul word...

"Shit."

Jade opened her mouth, but no words came out. First of all, Cat saying a swear word meant she was serious. Jade couldn't believe it. Cat loved her? But...did she love her back? Jade had no idea. She didn't really know what love felt like. But she did know that her relationship with Cat was a whole lot better than with Beck. "C-Cat," She said lamely.

Cat shook her head, her hand still covering her mouth. Her eyes were quivering, on the verge of crying again. "Jade, Jade, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say...I don't really know why-" But she did know why. She knew from the very moment she and Jade kissed for the first time that she was in love with her.

Cat took a step back towards the door. Jade's eye twitched and she darted to the door before Cat could. She slammed her palm against the wood and stared at Cat. "You're not running from this."

Cat whimpered, feeling trapped. "P-please, Jade! Forget what I said!"

"Why would I do that?" Jade questioned, still feeling all kinds of turmoil.

"Can't we talk later? I really can't—can't deal with this right now. I'm going crazy!" Cat pulled at her hair, just wanting all of her problems to go away.

Jade didn't answer and instead walked calmly to her bed and laid down. Seeing that as an opportunity to escape, Cat leapt onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow. _What am I going to do? I can't just take it back...I really do love her. _

Jade stared up at the ceiling, trying to figure out her feelings. She knew she liked Cat way more than she liked anyone else she went out with. But was it really love? She turned her head to the side to look at Cat. Seeing her curled up in a pathetic ball made her heart clench painfully. _Is this love?_

_

* * *

_

"We have to talk about this." Jade said softly, but sternly. It was nearly four hours later. Jade hadn't moved from her spot in that time.

"No, we don't." Cat said stubbornly. She buried her face deeper into the pillow she was shmushed against.

"And why not?" Jade placed her hands on her hips. Cat was just so damn stubborn.

"Because I know what you're going to say, Jade!" Cat said as she lifted her head from the pillow. Jade saw how bloodshot her eyes were, and she knew Cat hadn't been taking a nap. "You're going to say 'I'm sorry, Cat. I don't feel the same way.'" Cat's lip quivered dangerously.

"What makes you so sure?" Jade took a hesitant step forward. "You don't know how I feel. I haven't told you yet..." Cat's eyes widened and she sat up a little straighter.

"Jade...please don't do this. Please don't get my hopes up." Cat said in despair. She covered her ears and shut her eyes tightly.

Jade calmly walked the rest of the way to the bed and sat down next to her oblivious girlfriend. She carefully took Cat's hands and pulled them away from her ears. Cat didn't resist, but wouldn't look Jade in the eye. Jade wrapped her hands around the back of Cat's neck and pulled her closer. She leaned forward until her lips brushed her left ear. Cat shivered at the contact and took a deep breath. _Here it comes..._

Jade's breath tickled her ear. "I love you too." Jade said in a ghostly whisper. Cat wasn't sure if Jade had actually said anything, but Jade's smile told her that she did. Tears slid down her cheeks and she leaned her forehead against Jade's cheek.

"...again. Say it again."

"I love you, Cat." Jade whispered again, kissing the side of her head in emphasis.

Cat laughed, feeling giddy. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She hugged Jade tightly while continuing to laugh. "I'm so happy!" She squealed. "Jade loves me! Jade loves me!" Jade squirmed in Cat's grasp and gasped for breath.

"Killing me! Killing me!" Cat didn't seem to hear her.

* * *

Tori stood up in the hallway and brushed off her jeans. She wanted to check on Cat and see if she was okay, but it sounded like Jade took care of her. Tori smirked and chuckled under her breath.

"Now I get to tease them to no end..." Tori cackled to the empty hallway, already starting to formulate a plan in her head. She listened to the giggles from the door she was standing by. She smiled softly. "I'll let them get comfortable first. I wouldn't want to ruin this trip." Tori turned and went to her room, which was right next to Cat and Jade's.

Tori turned the handle then sighed before banging her hand on the door. "Trina! Unlock the door!"

* * *

Tori, André, Beck, and Trina were all eating in the small restaurant in the hotel lobby. They were expecting Cat and Jade to join them soon. Right on queue, Cat and Jade entered the room.

Cat swung Jade's arm around cheerfully, and everyone was shocked that Jade let her. Jade glared and her friends turned around, going back to eating their food respectfully. Jade smirked and stopped her girlfriend's happy fest by pulling her to a chair.

Jade sat down and patted the seat next to her, inviting Cat to sit down. Cat, however, decided to take a different approach. Everyone watched with wide eyes, except for Trina who frankly didn't give a damn, as Cat plopped down on Jade's lap.

Jade reacted calmly as if they'd done this millions of times. She brushed the red hair out of her eyes and rested her hands on Cat's thighs. Cat shifted her body so she was tilted to the right and could rest her head on Jade's right shoulder. Cat played with Jade's fingers with interest, while Jade ignored the unwelcome attention.

Tori shooed her friends away and grabbed Trina by the back of her shirt. "Tori!" Trina yelled at her younger sister, who pointedly ignored her and dragged her away.

"Soo..." Beck said after approaching the two lovebirds. After his and Jade's little talk, they had become rather good friends, and even Cat was warming up to him again. He was really nice after all. "I see you two are awfully...cuddly." He said with a friendly, yet knowing smile.

Jade flicked his arm, and he just rubbed it. He was used to her doing that when they were still dating. "Go away, Beck." Jade said as friendly as possible. She really did like Beck, just not like _that_ anymore. She wanted to keep him as a friend. Beck raised his hands in surrender and backed away until he was out the front door of the hotel.

Jade kissed Cat's temple, thinking she looked ultra cute with her concentrating very hard on her fingers. Cat giggled and relaxed into Jade's embrace. It was rare for them to be alone together outside of their room, so they were going to make the most of it.

As they munched on some of Trina's fries, Jade and Cat both considered this their first date.

* * *

**Okay...so it's been...2 days since I started this. Not bad eh? I could do better. Another sort of short chapter. I will stick with this length until the end of school.**

**It's funny. Ever since I wrote that one chapter on my iTouch, I've become so accustomed to starting my chapters on it. I really like typing on it. For some reason I can concentrate better on it than on my laptop. Strange.**

**LOST WAS AWESOME! SO SAD IT'S OVER! T.T**

**So sorry for taking so long! Only 10 more days until finals! XD I'll be free soon enough!**

**OH! And before I forget (like every other chapter) thanks SOOO much for all the wonderful reviews! I never used to pay attention to them, but now I really enjoy reading them. I like feedback. :) Just some future information. Okay, I'm done.**


	7. Survival of the Hottest

**6/26 My god! It's been too long since I last updated! It's been over a month! I hope you guys don't hate me for that.**

**This chapter will be based of the newest episode of 'Victorious'. I loved it so much! I got my inspiration back and got straight to typing right after the episode premiered.**

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**Survival of the Hottest**

"I love the beach!" André rejoiced, shouting to the sky. "We need to do this more often." André was floating on back with his friends who were swimming close by. "It may not be Venice, but it's still cooler than L.A."

Tori doggy paddled over to him. "As long as Trina doesn't drive I'm fine with coming here every week."

"Do you think Jade would drive us?" André shook his head, answering his own question.

"Well...maybe if we get Cat to convince her." Tori laughed at how cranky Jade would be if she was forced to drive them every week. She would probably kill them off one by one.

"Hey, wait, can't Beck drive?" André swam to shore where Beck was polishing his surfboard. "Beck, don't you have a license?" Beck got up from his spot behind his board and walked over to André to wash his hands in the ocean.

"Well, technically I do." Beck said vaguely as he washed the wax off his hands.

"What does that mean?"

Beck ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I have my license, but I crashed my car the day after I got it."

André laughed. "Oh, yeah! I remember that! Man, your dad was so ticked."

Beck nodded sorrowfully. "My dad took away my driving privileges, so I can't drive unless I have his permission." He shrugged unhappily. "Jade's your only hope." He chuckled at how silly that sounded.

"Wait a sec," Tori floated towards them. "Wasn't Jade in the car when you crashed?" Tori gave Beck a pointed look.

He laughed nervously and walked back to his newly polished surfboard. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"No wonder she broke up with you." Trina snorted from her spot in the hot sun. Tori threw a packed ball of wet sand at her untactful sister. "Tori!" Trina threw her bottle of suntan lotion at her little sister. It missed by a long shot. Tori smirked and tossed another sand bomb at her unforgiving sister. "I'm gonna kill you!" Trina darted from her now dirty spot on her towel. Tori screamed and bombarded Trina with as many sand balls as she could. Very, very unfortunately for her, one of them strayed to the side and hit an unsuspecting victim...one who could do a whole lot more damage back.

"Vega..." Jade wiped off the wet sand that clung to her flat stomach. "Do you _want_ to die?" She took very dangerous steps towards Tori, who was cowering behind Beck.

"Jade, Jade!" Tori backed away, waving her arms in front of her as a means to surrender. "It was an accident! It was supposed to hit Trina!" Jade ignored her and lifted the bottle of suntan lotion from the sand. Jade held the bottle intimidatingly. "Jade, no! That's gonna hurt!" Jade raised an eyebrow and bounced it in her hand. Fortunately for Tori, a certain red head skipped up to Jade from behind.

"Ooh, is that for me?" Cat took the bottle from Jade easily and ran to her clean towel under a tree. Jade stood there dumbly, trying to piece together what just happened. Tori laughed freely and splashed Jade knowing she couldn't hurt her. Jade growled and stormed into the ocean, uncaring that it was cold on her warm skin.

"You're going to get it, Vega." Jade waded forward and dunked Tori's head deep into the salty water. Bubbles popped at the surface like crazy and Tori thrashed around desperately. Jade let up a little and, with a sudden burst of strength, Tori flipped Jade off her and gasped for breath. Jade, now soaking wet, growled and used both her arms to splash Tori with all her might. Soon everyone was having a splash war, even Trina joined in. Cat giggled from the sidelines.

Seeing that Cat wasn't going to include herself in the fun, Jade left the group and stalked up beach to her awaiting girlfriend. She was well aware of Cat's wandering eyes, and she moved her hips a little sexily as she got closer to her. Cat was very jealous of the tiny droplet of water that slid down Jade's pale but smooth skin. Uncharacteristically, she cursed every drop that got to touch her girlfriend when she couldn't. Jade noticed that Cat was momentarily distracted, so she bent over the oblivious girl and wrung her hair out onto her exposed stomach. Cat released a _very_ high pitched shriek, attracting at least half the beach. "It's so cold!"

Jade clamped a hand on Cat's mouth and shushed her. She glared at any of the passerbyers who dared to stare at them. She removed her wet hands from Cat's mouth and asked, "Need some company?" Cat smiled a thousand-watt smile and nodded elastically. Jade took a seat behind the excited red head and snaked her arms around her stomach. Cat leaned back in Jade's arms and stared up into mysterious blue eyes. She kissed the brunette's chin sweetly before relaxing the rest of the way. Cat shut her eyes and smiled contently.

* * *

Trina was taking pictures of herself when she announced she had to go to the bathroom desperately. She volunteered Tori, who was texting their parents, to come with her, but Jade also had to go. She stood up, but not before kissing her girlfriend's cheek, and followed after the odd siblings.

"Wait up!" Beck and André called from behind. Apparently they also had to go. The bathrooms weren't far from their spot on the beach. The boys' and girls' were on either side of each other. The group split up and went to their gender specified bathrooms. The girls walked up to the bathroom, not noticing the 'out of order' sign that had fallen off the door handle and was not perched on top of a trashcan.

Jade, Tori, and Trina opened the door only to get pushed and shoved by a crowd of women. "What the hell?" Trina said extremely confused. At least ten women and one little girl had piled out of the bathroom.

"That place is rigged!" the little girl shouted over her shoulder as she hurried to the beach with her mother.

"Rigged?" Tori opened the bathroom door again. It didn't look rigged, it looked like an ordinary bathroom, except there was only one toilet. "Okay, why is it that people put fewer toilets in the girls' bathroom than the boys'? It's so unfair! They have urinals. They get to pee standing up for goodness sakes!" Tori kicked the side of the wall in her outrage.

"So true." Trina agreed with her little sister.

Jade rolled her eyes and walked further into the bathroom, the door swung shut behind her. "Is that what she meant when she said it was rigged?" She entered the single stall and examined the toilet. Only silence followed. Tori and Trina looked at each other before following Jade into the stall. They stared.

"GROSS!"

"Disgusting!"

"Can't people flush?" Jade lifted her foot and slammed her heel on the button that was conveniently placed in the center of the toilet; she wanted to get rid of the..._brown_ _mush_ as soon as possible. But nothing happened. Jade tried again, pressing harder on the button this time. Still, nothing happened. "Oh, dear god, no." All three of them backed out of the stall.

"Well, that's just great. Let's go and find a different bathroom." Trina hurried to the door and then she noticed something terribly amiss. "Guys.." Jade and Tori looked at Trina, wondering what the hold up was. Trina stepped to the side. "Where's the door handle?" Tori and Jade's eyes widened considerably. They rushed forward, slamming their bodies into the door, and searched for the door handle as if there was some secret passageway. "How are we supposed to get out?" Trina asked in a panic.

"Calm down!" Jade yelled, clearly irritated by their situation. "The guys are right next door. Once they finish their business they will notice that we aren't there, and then..." Jade trailed off, wanting them to understand what she was getting at.

"...then they will come open the door." Tori sighed in relief. Jade nodded and leaned against the wall.

"It won't be long."

Twenty minutes passed.

"How long does it take a guy to pee?"

* * *

"How long does it take a girl to pee?" Beck asked his companion, who was laying face down in the sand.

"Legends say: over an hour." came André's muffled reply.

"Seriously, dude?"

André lifted his face and gave Beck a look that asked 'are you stupid?' "No!"

Beck sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, chill. Then what's taking them so long?" He shifted his body so he could look at the girls' bathroom.

"I dunno. Maybe we should check it out." André stood up and slapped the sand free from his swim trunks. "Cat, watch our stuff."

Cat didn't look up from her spot in the sun. "Yeah, okay." She wasn't really paying attention. Beck shrugged and the two boys got a move on to the bathrooms.

* * *

Jade, Tori, and Trina sat on the bathroom floor by the wall farthest from the door. Jade had her eyes closed, obviously trying not to burst into angry flames, Tori was glaring at the ceiling, and Trina was painting her nails. She lifted her hand to get a better look. "What do you think," Trina waved her hand in Tori's face. "Does the pink work or does it make me look too trampy?" Tori and Jade turned their heads simultaneously but said nothing. Trina huffed and blew on her nails.

"You guys in here?" A familiar voice asked from outside. Before the girls could move, André and Beck had opened the door and stepped inside. "What are you guys doing on the floor?" André looked very confused yet amused at the same time. Beck looked nonchalant.

Tori jumped up and hugged both of them. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was beginning to think we were going to die in here!" A click echoed through the small room. Tori's eyes snapped to the door. It was shut. She threw André away from her and banged her fists on the door. "No!" She slumped forward and let out a pathetic cry.

Beck raised an eyebrow and looked at the other two girls who looked equally mortified. "What's going on?" Jade was suddenly in his face shaking his shoulders violently.

"There's no door handle! We're all trapped in here!" Jade yelled in his face.

"What?" André shoved Tori aside and rested his hands on either side of where the door handle should be. He stared. And stared. And stared.

"Dude, staring at the door won't bring the handle back." Jade stated unamused. She fell back onto the floor and banged her head on the wall behind her. "I want out!"

André wiped the sweat off his brow. "It's getting hot in here. Does anyone have a thermometer?"

"Oh! I just got a new app for my pear phone. It tells the temperature inside the room you're in." She raised her phone in the air and waited a few seconds before checking. "It's 103° in here." She dropped her phone into her lap. "I'm so thirsty. Does anyone have any water on them?" Tori glanced at her sister before her eyes lit up.

"Sinks! There are sinks! We can cool off using the water from them." She darted to the single sink and turned the facet on. Their hopes crumbled when nothing happened.

"What bathroom doesn't have working sinks or toilets?" Jade asked to no one in particular.

"The toilets don't work?" Beck asked, walking into the stall.

"Uhh, I don't think you wanna see-" Beck rushed out and slammed the door shut behind him. "that."

"Man, I thought I smelled something rank!" André joined the girls by the wall, but he chose to lay flat on the ground.

"Wait a minute, where's Cat?" Jade noticed that her girlfriend wasn't there, hope returning. "Trina, call Cat now."

"What's her number?" Jade was about to answer when Tori stopped her.

"There's no service in here." Tori threw her phone across the room and watched in slight satisfaction as it skidded to the floor.

"I told you guys not to get F-mobile!" André said in frustration.

"You call her then." Tori glared at him angrily.

"I can't. I left my phone and the rest of my stuff with Cat." André smacked his fist against the wall multiple times.

Trina swung her arms into the air. "That's just great! No phones, no water," She counted with her fingers. "and it's getting hotter in here."

"Trina stop it. Just think of the positives." Tori tried comforting.

Jade glared at her. "Tori?"

"Yeah?" Tori asked innocently.

"There are no positives!" Tori winced and sunk further onto the tiled floor until her head was in the intersection of the wall and floor.

"Well, at least the floor is cool..." Tori said grumpily.

"Oh, yeah! Let's all rub our bodies against the gross floor to cool off." Jade said sarcastically. But that's exactly what they did.

Meanwhile, Cat was enjoying the nice warm sun from her cozy beach towel on the sand. Fate then decided to snap Cat out of her daydream. "Hey! Where'd my sun go?" Cat whined while taking off her sunglasses. The dark clouds blocked the sun and Cat sighed. She sat up and stretched, and then she looked around. It looked like almost everyone had left the beach. _It must be getting late._ She thought to herself. That's when she noticed that she was all alone.

Now fully aware of her surroundings, Cat stood up and scanned the pacific ocean for her friends. "Where did everybody go?" Cat asked, vulnerable and suddenly very lonely.

She took out her phone and dialed Jade's number. It scared the living daylights out of her when a loud ring tone buzzed behind her. She lifted the phone and smelled it. "It's Jades..." She pocketed the phone and noticed that all their stuff was still there, so they couldn't have gone back to the hotel. "Maybe they went for a walk down the beach." Cat said enthusiastically, not wanting the fact that was alone to sink in. She left her secluded spot by the big oak tree to head down the beach in search of her friends.

* * *

Jade groaned and sat up from her uncomfortable position on the hard floor. Her back ached and her shoulder didn't feel good at all. She proceeded to glare in Beck's general direction. "Okay, we can't just lay on the floor like a bunch of drunks and wait for Cat to find us. We have to find a way to get air in here." She waved at her face and took a deep breath. "I'm dying over here." She wiped at her skin and stared. "And I'm sweating, this is definently _not_ okay."

Tori sat up and her head seemed to roll off her shoulders before looking at Jade. "What are we suppose to do? There's nothing in here that's useful." She glanced around the simply-made bathroom before realizing something. "Wait, wasn't it brighter before?" She shook Trina like a crazed animal. "Trina! Wasn't it brighter?"

Trina slapped Tori's hands away from her shoulders and blinking her eyes open. "Yeah, I guess, but why-"

"That means there must be a window in here! It has to be around evening by now, so, naturally, it gets darker outside. But if there weren't any windows then this room wouldn't be affected." Tori stood up and searched for the window she knew she near. "There!" She pointed to the horizontally shaped window.

Jade stood with Tori. "If we can open that then we can get cool air in here." Jade grinned and tugged Beck to his feet because he's the tallest. "Beck, get up there and open that window now!"

Beck stood under the glass wall of hope and tried to reach for it. "I can't reach. André, give me a boost."

"No way, man, you're too heavy." Plus, André wanted to have nothing to do with whatever was on Beck's feet.

Jade groaned and slapped her forehead. She heard Tori make a very similar noise and she suddenly had a brain blast. "Lift Tori! She's the lightest." André took initiative and grabbed Tori by her legs and lifted her up to the small window. Tori pushed against it as hard as she could and it popped open.

"YES!" André practically dropped Tori as he jumped for joy. "Air! Oh sweet, sweet air!" Tori laughed before falling on her butt. "Tori, get back up there." Tori looked at André confusedly.

"Why?"

"Maybe you can squeeze through the window and then open the door for us." André lifted Tori, who admittedly wasn't at all okay with this plan, back up.

"André, I'm not going to fit! It's too small." André smashed Tori's face against the window, whether it was an accident or not was unknown. "André!" Tori kicked him in the ribs and she dropped to the floor.

André clutched at his stomach and gasped out an apology. "I just want to get out of here so bad!"

There was a knock on the door. Everyone froze in their spots. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" The door slowly opened and a goddess of a red head peaked her head around. "Jade?" Screams were her only answer.

Cat shrieked as everyone chased after her out of the horrid bathroom. André lifted her high into the air and released joyous laughter. Beck hugged and kissed the top of her head. Tori and Trina tackled her simultaneously and the three of them squealed happily. Jade stood by herself in the rain, her head tilted back and she smiled at how the cold drops cooled her hot skin. Jade turned around and saw the funny looking group hug. She smiled a little. Cat pulled out of the hug with some difficulty and looked around for her girlfriend. Jade suddenly appeared before her and hugged her closely around the neck. Cat giggled happily and wrapped her arms around Jade's, not wanting her to let go.

"You're a life saver." Jade whispered into Cat's ear and she kissed her cheek affectionately. Cat couldn't contain the bubbly laughter that escaped her, and she tugged Jade into the rain and jumped for joy.

The group ran for their stuff and grabbed their bags and towels. Beck and André gave everyone except Cat water bottles. The dehydrated teenagers drank vigorously. "So what happened?" Cat asked while watching how Jade's expression changed into one of pure pleasure.

"We were trapped in there for four hours!" Tori answered after chugging down the rest of her drink.

"Why didn't you just open the door?"

"The door handle was gone." André said exasperated, but not agitated. "We tried pushing Tori out the small window but she didn't fit." Tori punched him in the shoulder. "Ow! Okay, I deserved that." He chuckled a little. "Now I can honestly say that I've been trapped in a girls' bathroom." That aroused a goodhearted round of laughter.

"Let's just get back to the hotel before we all get colds." Beck led the way off the beach, but he couldn't help but notice that Jade was lagging behind. He slowed down until he was walking side by side with her. "What's up, Jade?" She scowled, not at him, but at the pain in her left shoulder. It was getting increasingly difficult to carry her bags.

"It's my damn shoulder." She said vaguely, but Beck's eyes widened and her quickly took her beach towel and bag that she was carrying in her left hand. He brought a backpack to hold his things so he could carry his board with one hand and Jade's stuff in the other. Jade looked appreciatively at her former boyfriend. "Thanks, Beck." Beck grinned cheesily.

"Wow, Jade, ever since you and Cat started dating you've gotten...nicer." Jade growled and lightly punched him in the stomach.

"I have not."

Beck just smirked and shook his head. He couldn't believe ho much she changed. "Whatever you say." He watched Jade rotate her shoulder around. "Does your shoulder feel any better?"

"It still feels like it got hit by a tree," Jade gave him a hard look. "But, yes, it feels a little better."

"Good. I still feel bad about that ya know." Beck would have rubbed the back of his neck if he had any free hands.

"You should be. It was entirely your fault." Jade said bluntly.

Beck staggered forwards as if wounded. "Hey, come on! Give a guy a break. I was still new at the whole driving thing."

"Well you shouldn't have gotten your license if all you were going to do was ram your car into a tree." Jade said calmly, smirking a bit but not enough to be noticeable.

"How many times do I have to apologize?"

Jade smirked more noticeably. "How about you bow down and beg for forgiveness." Beck glared at the vixen he was walking with.

"No way."

"Then you'll never be forgiven." Jade said easily and laughed loudly. She could see the hotel now and the cold rain was beginning to affect her.

Cat appeared by her side and wrapped her free arm around Jade's. "It's so cold!" She shouted before rushing through the doors of the hotel.

* * *

**6/29 Okay so it's been a very long while since I last updated. I promise my next update will be much sooner. It's now 8:50 in the morning. I'm a teenager. I shouldn't be up this early. :P**

**Oh, I really wanted to add something a little weird to my story so I had Cat sniff Jade's phone and recognize it as hers. Really random actually.**

**Edit*: Posted late. Revising took longer than expected. Already working on chapter 8!**


	8. A Moment

**7/7/10**

**Okay, had no time to write this because of fourth of July weekend. There was a bunch of family stuff I had to do. But the fireworks were awesome! I could see about 10 sets of fireworks from just one spot! I was in Martinez (California) sitting by this big lake when one firework skyrocketed really close by. I freaked out and clung to my brother LOL! I thought we were under attack or something. Then towns all around the lake started their fireworks at the same time. It was pretty amazing!**

**Okay, enough rambling...**

* * *

**A Moment**

Hands ran through soft brown strands. Jade leaned her head back and let the hands cradle her. Cat hummed a soft song as she blow dried Jade's damp hair. The dark haired girl rotated her shoulder blade absentmindedly. Her lips curved up humorously.

"So, what took you so long?"

Cat huffed and stopped fussing with her companion's hair. "Jaaade! You've asked me that like three times already!" She put her hands on her hips childishly. "I said I was sorry!"

"Well, I just want to know how you could _forget_ your girlfriend."

"I didn't forget you! I didn't notice you were gone-"

"For four hours?"

"Oh, hush." The red-head nuzzled dark hair. "I found you, didn't I?"

Jade closed her eyes and hummed in agreement. "Yeah, you did."

Cat smiled toothily. "Your hair is so pretty, Jade." She'd almost finished drying it.

"I know." Cat sighed affectionately at her girlfriend's 'modesty'. But then frowned when she saw her roll her shoulder again. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm?"

"You keep doing that." She poked at her shoulder, and Jade refrained from pulling away.

"It's nothing." Jade waved her hand, dismissing the topic. "Just an old wound. Nothing to get antsy about." Cat nodded uncertainly, but let it go, not wanting to upset Jade.

She wrapped her arms around Jade's shoulders from behind. "I'm just glad nothing bad happened to you."

Jade raised an eyebrow and spun around on the bed to look at her girlfriend. "Me and my 'friends'," She used air-quotes, "got trapped in a girls' bathroom with a crappy toilet, pun intended. Most people would say that was _bad_."

Cat giggled and twirled a lock of dark hair. "I know, silly. I meant you weren't hurt...and you didn't kill Tori _or _Trina. I'm proud of you."

Jade smirked and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you should be." And gave her a light kiss on the nose. Cat wanted to squeal at how sweet it was. She decided she would tell Tori later.

Jade narrowed her eyes at her squirming companion. "You'd better not run off and tell Tori about this, got it?" Cat squeaked and shook her head. "Good. Now come 'ere." Cat was pulled into Jade's lap with a squeal. Her laughter was drowned out by a towel. Jade ruffled the towel on Cat's wet hair with a smile. "I don't want you to get a cold, now, hold still." Cat complied as well as she could.

"Do you know how much I love you?" Cat asked cutely.

Jade smiled bashfully, "A lot?"

"A whole lot!" Cat waved her arms grandly. "You..." She poked Jade's nose. "Are my favorite person, ever." Her smile was so wide she had a squint to contain it. She shifted so that her arms were back around Jade's neck. Her smile grew impossibly when she saw Jade's pink cheeks.

"You're sweet," Jade mumbled, unable to think of anything clever to say.

Cat grinned. "I know!" Jade grumbled and silenced her with a thrilling kiss.

Cat stayed quiet for the rest of the night.

The next morning was fun-filled. Tori had received a call from Robbie, asking how the trip was. It was really a bonding moment that had even Jade smiling. So, no one was happy to leave Santa Monica.

The night before, Tori had made sure that Trina was all packed up and forced her to sleep by eleven. Trina was understandably cranky that morning. Everyone rejected her offer to drive, though she ignored them and made her way to the driver's side. Jade burrowed past and dove into the driver's seat. No one had felt more thankful in their lives.

Cat sat purposefully in the passenger's seat, eager to hold Jade's hand all the way back to Hollywood. No one was more surprised than Beck that Jade let her; he had tried to do that in the past but was denied. He didn't let it bother him, wanting to have a good time with his friends in the few hours they had left. He laughed with Tori at something André said.

Cat watched her friends with an easy smile. She turned to stare at Jade's concentrated expression as she safely drove them home. She loved that every second she spent around Jade, the more she was falling for her. It felt like eternal love, and she never thought she would feel like this. Jade caught her staring, but smiled back knowingly.

Home came sooner than expected. The group stepped out of the car and fumbled for their respective stuff. Tori checked for any scratches on the van and sighed in relief when she found none. She said goodbye to each of her friends, smiling at Cat and smirking at Jade, who merely grimaced in response. She waved goodbye to Beck and André before following after her sour sister into the house.

Jade dumped their bags into the trunk of her car, slammed it shut, and leaned against it. Cat joined her, resting her head against Jade's right shoulder. She frowned and sighed sadly. "I don't want today to end." She gripped her girlfriend's arm in both hands. "We need to do this again soon." She tucked a stand of hair behind her ear nervously. "But next time," She leaned forward until her lips rested comfortably on Jade's jaw. "We should go alone." She mumbled apprehensively. She pulled back to gauge the dark-haired girl's reaction.

Jade looked at her thoughtfully. She pressed a kiss to Cat's forehead and chuckled. "That sounds awesome."

* * *

**6/18/11**

**No words can express how sorry I am for leaving this story for so long. And for the short chapter.**

**It's been a while (a long while). I'm in Germany enjoying vacation. I was reading some of the comments for this story and immediately went back to the draft of this chapter. I can't believe I left this for so long. I've been hooked on Glee since January, so Victorious was the last thing on my mind, ya know? But I'm going to re-watch some Victorious and get back into it. I wanted to get past the beach trip, so this chapter is quite a bit rushed.**

**I have a 4th of July chapter, partially written, that may or may not be the next chapter. I may stick another Cade moment or another couple in the next chapter instead. Who knows?**

**Until then.**


	9. Like the Fourth of July

**7/7/10 – I know...I started this a LONG time ago.**

* * *

**Like the Fourth of July**

Cat lay on the freshly mowed lawn, her arms and legs stretching out. It was a nice sunny day in Hollywood and Cat was loving the warmth that was radiating from the sky. It's been two days since they'd gotten back from their beach trip. School started again, Sikowitz was back, everything was back to normal. Except one thing was amiss...

Jade was sick.

Jade _never_ gets sick. It started with her shoulder. Jade was complaining about the pain on their way back from Santa Monica, but she didn't think it was serious. Cat tried her best to distract her from the pain, and, though everyone pitched in, Jade couldn't be distracted from the searing, vice-like grip that tugged at her shoulder. And it only got worse.

Cat sat up from her spot and glanced around at the scenery. She was surrounded by buildings, street lights, and cars. An ambulance sped by, lights and sirens blaring. A pregnant woman was rushed into the building behind her. Cat was laying on the local hospital's property, waiting for any news of Jade's current condition. Tori, Beck, André, and Robbie were out to lunch at the pizza shop down the street. They asked if she wanted to join them, but she wanted to stay in case Jade woke up. Cat closed her eyes...

_Jade massaged her left shoulder as she walked with Cat down the hall of Hollywood Arts. The smaller girl kept glancing beside her and eventually stopped. She pulled Jade to a secluded area by Sikowitz's classroom. She took both of her hands, but after seeing Jade wince, she pulled back and only took her right hand._

"_Jade, please go see the nurse! I can't stand seeing you like this." Cat stared into frustrated eyes as she pleaded. Even though this was a request, Cat had no intention of letting Jade get out of this._

_Jade sighed, absentmindedly rubbing her pained shoulder. "I'm fine, Cat, really." She saw the look Cat was giving her. "Seriously! I'm just complaining, it doesn't hurt that bad." She rotated her left shoulder for good measure, but ended up hissing as she cradled it. "Perfectly fine." She said through clenched teeth._

_Cat narrowed her eyes and she tugged Jade towards the nurse's office. "No girlfriend of mine is going to wander through the halls in pain." She said, nearly quoting what Jade said not long after they had gotten together. "I love you, Jade. I want you to be in as good of health as me." Jade probably would've smiled if it wasn't for her traitorous shoulder. She allowed Cat to drag her down the hall, closer to the nurse. Just then, a freshman who was apparently very late to class collided with Jade. Jade cried out and fell to the floor with Cat; the freshman didn't even seem to notice he hit anyone._

_Cat crawled up next to her writhing girlfriend, her eyes wide with worry and fear. "Jade, are you alright? Jade!"_

"_I told you I'm fine..." Jade's words were slurred as she tried to lock eyes with Cat's. Her voice was higher from shock, her brain fuzzy from the pain. She saw Cat's beautiful worried face and tried to placate her. "Don't worry so much, Cat..." Everything was getting fuzzy. What's happening? Darkness clouded Jade's vision._

"_Jade? Jade, wake up." Cat shook her shoulders. "Answer me!" Jade lay there, lightly breathing. Cat frantically pulled out her cell phone and dialed Tori's number._

"_Hello?" Cat breathed a sigh in relief._

"_Tori! Jade just passed out, you've got to come and help me!" Cat pulled Jade closer just in case another freshman decided to run her over. "I don't know what to do." Now teary-eyed, Cat desperately yelled for Tori to hurry up. She listened to Tori's frantic rambling and mumbling before the line went dead._

Cat opened her eyes and winced at the sun's glare. _It was a good thing André and Robbie were with her. We wouldn't have made it to the nurse's office without them. Although Robbie didn't do much..._An annoying shadow blocked the annoying sun.

"Hey, Cat." Said girl waved at Beck as he sat down next to her at a friendly distance. "How are you doing?" Cat shrugged, plucking at the grass beneath her fingers. She didn't feel like talking, especially to the guy who started this. She furrowed her eyebrows. _That's not good. Don't blame Beck. So what if he's a terrible driver? It's not entirely his fault._ Those calm thoughts were the only thing stopping her from strangling the boy. _This isn't like me. Jade needs to wake up _now.

"Hey." Beck's hand landed with a 'thump' on her shoulder. He lightly shook it. "She's going to be okay." He ran a hand through his wavy hair. "God, this is all my fault. I know you blame me. Even you would. I'm so sorry."

"Did she?"

Beck stopped messing this his hair to look at the usually quiet girl next to him. "Who?"

"Did Jade blame you?" Cat stared intensely, asking for an honest answer.

Beck smiled sincerely, turning back to the scenery. A woman with her dog jogged by. A rotweiler. "She did. She still does." Cat nodded, smiling weakly. That sounded that Jade. "I've apologized every day since the accident. She says she still hasn't forgiven me." The dark-haired boy grinned with a shake of his head. "But she's always smiling at me when I beg her forgiveness; I can't help but feel like she'd forgiven me a long time ago," He smiled directly at Cat now. "She's just too stubborn to admit it." Though Cat still didn't feel like smiling, she tried as hard as she could for Beck.

"Then I do too." She nodded to him firmly.

He stared. "You do?"

"Yes. I do." Beck smiled ruefully, his hair falling over his eyes.

* * *

Tori watched her friend resting on an uncomfortable chair. She'd finally convinced Cat to take a nap and that she would wake her up if any news about Jade came. Cat had nodded tiredly and stretched out, her head came to rest on André's shoulder. Even though she didn't say it, Tori knew Cat was relieved to take a break from her vigilance; the wait was just too hard on the poor girl.

Tori shifted her gave to the puppet-less Robbie. She thought it was sweet that he left Rex home, knowing Rex's comments were the last thing Cat needed right now. She also noticed the hard look Robbie was giving André, who was glaring back. What was that about?

"Hey, Tori." Beck whispered to her. She smiled gratefully, thankful for the distraction.

"Yeah, what's up?" She asked in an equally quiet tone. Right then, Tori wondered if maybe Beck was having a harder time than Cat; Jade was Beck's first love and vice-versa. But one glance at Cat washed those thoughts away. Tori had never seen the red-head so quiet and withdrawn.

Beck shrugged and nodded towards the small girl resting across from them. "How do you think she's doing?"

Tori sighed. "I don't know...not good. She's not...not Cat-like. It's worrying."

Beck nodded gravely. "Yeah." Tori rested her head on Beck's shoulder, soaking up the little comfort he had to offer. She didn't notice the doctor walk in.

"Jade West?" Her head shot up and she scrambled to her feet.

"Here! Over here!" Tori called with a wave. The male doctor nodded and made his way over. André quickly shook Cat and waited for her to wake up.

"Are you a relative of Miss West?" The doctor asked Tori once he got to her.

Tori glanced around before shaking her head. "Err, no. I'm a friend." The doctor frowned. Tori quickly continued, "But her parents are in Boca and, well, we were the ones that called the hospital, and we really want to know if she's okay."

The doctor nodded sympathetically, which, for some reason, really irked Tori. "She's okay, but any specific details are only to be told to family or—"

"I'm her girlfriend." The doctor's eyes snapped to Cat, who was tiredly standing up with André's assistance.

The doctor looked Cat up and down, as if not believing the pierced teenager would date such an innocent velvet-haired girl. Cat's eyes hardened. "I'm her girlfriend." She repeated firmly, sensing that was the problem. The doctor finally nodded in acceptance.

He held out his hand for Cat to shake, who did grudgingly. "I'm Dr. Brian Corey. I apologize for the...misunderstanding." Cat only nodded. "Miss West has been in pain for quite a while now, I believe. Her clavicle must've been fractured weeks ago if my calculations are correct." Cat gasped, hands going to her mouth. She set her sights on Beck, who looked equally if not more surprised.

"B-But we went to a doctor after the crash." Beck stuttered, not completely comprehending what was happening. "Jade told me the doctor said she was fine."

Dr. Corey shook his head. "Well, she wasn't 'fine' so obviously she isn't 'fine' now."

Tori whirled around. "Hey! It's not his fault." André put a soothing hand on her shoulder. Tori backed off and grumbled something about rude doctors.

André smiled kindly and asked, "Can you just tell us what's wrong with Jade?"

Dr. Corey acquiesced. "She has a broken clavicle and a cracked humerus. Her acromion took a little damage too, in the crash that is, but we wrapped that and her shoulder up nicely." Cat let out an audible sigh of relief. Dr. Corey smiled genuinely at the tearful girl. "She should be waking up soon. You all can go see her, but don't bug her too much." They looked at him. He shrugged friendly. "She seems like the type to get annoyed easily." He smiled at the mumbled confirmations. "If you all would follow me, I'll take you to her room."

* * *

Jade couldn't remember what the hell happened. She distantly recalled Cat's scared expression and the nurse man-handling her. Beyond that, it was all a blur. So imagine her surprise when she came around to a stark white room with a nurse _man-handling _her. She was pissed, that's for sure. Though she was pleasantly surprised when she saw the vase of white flowers by her bedside. The nurse just said they were from a girl named Cat. Jade smiled. She wondered if Cat had been by there yet. Or if she had just dropped off the flowers and headed home.

The painkillers were awesome. She felt slightly lightheaded but not out of it. She knew what was going on, and she could guess what had happened. She obviously fainted and was brought to the hospital. She wasn't sure if she'd woken up earlier or not. She was vaguely aware of the sling on her left arm and the soft yet firm shoulder pad.

She was, however, aware of her door banging open and her fiery girlfriend leaping into her right side. She was taken back by the sheer urgency Cat displayed and did her best to hug her back. She folded her right arm around her and stroked her hair soothingly.

"Hey, baby." She cooed uncharacteristically. _What? I feel like this is a perfect moment to coddle my girlfriend..._

Cat didn't move, even when Tori, Beck, Andre, and Robbie piled in after her.

"Hey, how ya doin'?" Andre asked his friend as he took a seat on the chair nearest the bed.

Jade would have shrugged, but she had a nagging feeling it wouldn't feel all that great. "Okay, I guess. Anyone want to tell me what happened?"

"You got trampled by a freshman." Robbie blurted, then winced at how bad that sounded for Jade's pride.

Jade merely glared at him and released a tight "Oh." Then grumbled, "stupid freshman."

Tori rolled her eyes, though she was glad Jade felt all right. "Well, it wasn't _just_ the freshman." She looked at Beck, hoping he would take over. He caught her eye and stepped forward.

"Jade," She gave him partial attention. Cat still wasn't looking at her and it worried her. Cat remained burrowed in Jade's shoulder with no intention of moving. "Why didn't you tell me you broke your collar bone?"

Jade's gaze shifted to Beck. _A broken collar bone? What?_ "I didn't know." She muttered after several blinks.

Beck groaned in frustration. "Did you even go _see_ a doctor, Jade?" He was starting to raise his voice.

Jade winced. That's right. She told him she did. But seriously? Like hell she was going to see a doctor. No hiding it now. "No."

Tori threw her hands in the air. "Jade!"

Andre joined her. "How could you not see a doctor after being in a car crash?"

"Yeah, are you stupid?" Robbie spoke up, then quickly shut his mouth and 'eeped' and sat by the wall farthest from the bed.

"I hate doctors, okay?" Jade shouted, not likely how everyone was ganging up on her. If she knew this was going to happen, she would have gone to see the damn doctor. "I didn't think it was all that serious."

"Well it was." Cat's muffled voice sounded from Jade's shoulder. She lifted her head and gave Jade a rare glare. Jade's heart stopped. "That was stupid of you, Jade. You know better." She rubbed her nose with her sleeve. "You took me to see the nurse when I got a scrape. You were in a car crash..." Jade sighed.

"I care about you more than I care about me." She said quietly. She felt Cat tense even more, and she wanted to punch herself for making her worry.

"Don't say that." Jade watched the emotions dance around Cat's face: anger, hurt, sadness, terror, and betrayal. "Don't say that." Cat repeated, her hands grasping Jade's right. "I love you. Don't say that." Their friends took that as their queue to leave. Cat continued on, not registering that they were there anyway. "Don't say that about yourself. I _love you_. Why don't you?"

"It's not that I don't." Jade began, not sure where she was going with this. But Cat looked so desperate for an answer. "I'm comfortable with myself and, yes, I do...'love' myself." It sounded a little too egotistical. She didn't like the idea of sounding like Trina. "It's just that..." She lifted their hands and intertwined their fingers. She stared at Cat's sad brown eyes. "I love you more." Cat squeaked and leaned forward until her forehead rested against Jade's jaw. "I would get hit by a bus for you."

Cat "awwed" and hugged her girlfriend tighter. That was sweet, but didn't get her out of it. But she would follow the doctors instructions; she wasn't going to bug Jade about it _today_ anyways.

Jade quickly changed the subject. "So, you got me flowers?" Cat's eyes lit up, and Jade knew she said the right thing for once.

"Yes, I did! Do you like them? They smelled so pretty, so I brought them for you yesterday. But the lady at the front desk wouldn't let me bring them to you...but you got them. Yay!" For the first time that day, Cat smiled brightly and genuinely.

"Well..." Jade reached over and picked up the vase. She lifted it carefully, making sure not to spill any of the water on either of them. She buried her nose in one of the flowers, mostly to humor Cat. "Mmm, they do smell good." Cat was grinning ear to ear. "Here we go," Jade plucked the white flower from its stem and, before Cat would protest, tucked it behind Cat's ear. Icy blue eyes met warm brown.

Cat fisted Jade's loose hospital gown near the stomach, making sure she had a good, tight hold. The hospital gown is pale in comparison to her skin. They kissed, and Cat was reminded of the fourth of July. Fireworks went off, each one spectacular.

"You'll go with me, right?" Cat asked suddenly. She lazily traced random patterns on Jade's uninjured arm.

"Go with you where?"

"To the Fourth of July festival, silly." Cat giggled as if it were obvious.

"Of course, you nut ball." Cat laughed and leaned down for another phenomenal kiss. "Wait, you know that's not for like two weeks, right?"

"Uh-uh. I just wanted to ask you now...you reminded me anyway." Jade gave her a questioning look, but Cat ignored her and dove back in.

In an afterthought, Cat said aloud, "I'm allergic to nuts."

Jade smirked. "I know."

More fireworks.

* * *

**I love summer. So much more free time. :) Although it's pretty rainy here, not that I'm complaining. I love the rain.**

**And, no, I was not listening to Katy Perry's "Fireworks" as I wrote this. I was actually listening to Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway". Haha.**

**I didn't really realize it until now (proof reading), but this chapter is a lot like "Tori Gets Stuck" episode. So, yeah. Just like my Survival of the Hottest chapter, this is my version of "Tori Gets Stuck".**


	10. Better

**Better**

Thankfully, Jade was on a fast road to recovery. Between her easy going days at the hospital and her almost inexistent homework, she really had no reason (or need) to stress her shoulder. So far, she'd missed two and a half days of school and, despite the joy of not having to put up with her idiotic classmates, it bugged her. In spite of her reputation to be a mean girl, Jade was a hard working student. She had never received a grade lower than an A. Well, except for the time she shoved Rex into a Turblow Jet. But that was worth it. Robbie never did forgive her.

Cat and Beck visited her everyday, usually together, though Cat would stay longer. That's what bothered Jade. When Tori last visited she told her that Cat was constantly distracted in class and that she was caught sleeping in Sikowitz's room...during lunch. Jade hated, absolutely _hated_ bringing down others when she was in need. That's why, today she was going to make Cat's visit extra short; and kick her out if she had to. Cat wasn't the only caring girlfriend in this relationship, and Jade was going to prove it.

It was as if Cat sensed the impending danger, because, just when Jade was plotting her approach, she bounced in.

She leapt to the bed and gave Jade a chaste kiss. "Hi, Jade!"

Jade's eyes darted to her bedside clock. "Cat! What are you doing here?"

Cat smiled. "I missed you, so I came for a visit."

"It's 12:45! Why aren't you in school?"

"I already told you why, silly." Cat tapped her on the nose, and Jade couldn't stop herself from wiggling it cutely. Cat giggled at her antics, "Tori said she would tell my teachers and she would text me the homework."

Jade made a mental note to kill Tori later. She sighed. "Cat, you can't just skip school and come over here whenever you want."

Cat's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Why not?"

"It's not ethical." _Oh, who am I to talk? I took a patient's jar of fat from a doctor._ She ignored herself. "And it hurts your grade. I don't want you to flunk, Cat."

"But you're more important! You have a broken cervical and you cracked your humoral, _and_ you hurt your acro-thingy," Jade didn't bother correcting her. "Well, I'm not really sure what that is, but it sounds bad. I wanted to take care of you, so here I am!" She bounced and gestured to herself with a bright grin.

"Cat..." Jade palmed her face and shook her head. What should she do? Let Cat stay and cause her to fail? No. "Cat, you need to go back to school."

Cat huffed and stomped her foot stubbornly. "No! You're sick and I am going to nurse you back to health." _Why does she have to be so damn cute?_ Jade asked herself that everyday. "Please let me stay? I'll be good, I promise." Jade stared at her uncertainly. Cat fumbled for an compromise, "I'll even do my homework here and I'll go to school early tomorrow and ask my teachers for extra credit assignments. Just let me stay, _please_." It killed Jade to do this. It physically hurt.

"Cat...I'm sorry, but you have to go back." Cat looked utterly heartbroken.

"B-but...Jade..." Jade hated how small she sounded. She prayed Cat wouldn't cry, she'd cried enough already. Cat stalked slowly to the bed and grasped Jade's right hand, which was dangling off the side of the bed. She stared deeply into calculating blue eyes, searching for any sign of Jade wanting her to stay. Jade made sure to keep her feelings in check; this was about Cat, not her.

"Fine." Cat muttered, stepping away from Jade and rushing out the door. Jade heard fading sniffs.

Her head fell back on her pillow with a 'thump'. "Damn it."

* * *

Tori was on her way to her locker when she felt her phone vibrate. She knew who it was without checking the caller-id. Painfully slow, she grabbed her phone from her pocket and answered it with a sigh, "Hello." She greeted weakly.

"_Vega, I swear if I were there right now you would a shiner." _Jade's voice growled from the speaker. Tori gulped and smiled weakly.

"Pun intended?" She could practically feel Jade's eye roll.

"_Why did you let Cat ditch class? You were the one who told me to do something in the first place! If I knew you were just going to encourage her—"_

"It wasn't like that!" Tori defended herself. "I told her no."

Jade scoffed. _"Don't lie to me, Vega."_

Tori twisted in her locker combination and took her books with shaking hands. "I-I'm not lying per say...I told her no...the first time." She forced a chuckle and greeted uneasiness with an open heart. "But then she asked me a second time and then a third and a fourth," She slammed her locker shut. "And then she did the puppy face."

"_Vega—"_

"The puppy face, Jade! The puppy face." She whimpered. "Whenever I see that face I feel like I kicked her kitten." Tori smiled when she heard Jade's mumbled agreement. "I didn't tell her it was okay, anyway. I said that, if she were to do it, I would make sure she'd be prepared for class tomorrow." Jade didn't comment. "That makes me a good friend, right?"

"_Do you really want me to answer that?" _Jade hissed. Tori winced and quickly shook her head before answering a quiet 'no'. _"That's what I thought. Thanks a lot, Tori. Because of you Cat's mad at me. She won't answer any of my calls or text messages."_

"How is that _my_ fault?"

"_You encouraged her, Tori. Encouraged her!"_

"I didn't! I—"

"_Just fix this. Or I'll fix you!"_

Tori threw her head back and let out a frustrated yell before charging out of the school and into her car.

* * *

"Look, I know Jade's difficult, but you shouldn't block her out like this." Tori said as soon as Cat opened her front door. She looked worse for wear. Her eyes were bloodshot, her nose was stuffed and red, and her lips looked chewed. Plus, there was a tissue hanging from her arm.

Cat released a frustrated cry and stomped from the door and towards her bedroom, Tori at her heels. "I don't want to talk, Tori."

"Well, you have to talk, Cat. I'm not leaving until you talk to Jade." Tori closed Cat's bedroom door and sat on the edge of her _very_ pink bed.

"I don't want to talk to her." Cat nuzzled her mustached pig.

"Why not?"

"'Cuz..."

"_Why?_"

"I just don't, okay? Leave it alone!" Cat threw her pillow at her friend, who caught it with a stunned glare.

"Cat! Don't throw your pillow at me!" She threw it right back at her. It hit her in the face.

"Geez—Tori!"

* * *

Jade shook the fatty jar with a amused smile. She watched the fat hit the sides and float to the bottom and then to the top. _This is more amusing than it should be_. Jade thought to herself. Without Cat around to keep her company, her time in the hospital was very boring, but she couldn't bring herself to ask Cat to come over. Not after their fight. And because Cat still wasn't talking to her. Jade let out a troubled sigh and set the jar on the bedside table. She glanced at the clock as she placed the jar: 2:37 am. She groaned and slammed the back of her head against her irritably fluffy pillow. To her surprise, she heard a door slide open.

She lifted her head and glared into the darkness, cursing her lack of night vision. She could barely make out a small silhouette. "Who's there?" The figure shuffled closer to bed, almost nervously, then it stopped and moved around the room. "What are you doing? What do you want?" It found what it was looking for and the lights switched on. Jade groaned. _I'm blind!_ And she blinked several times as her eyes adjusted to the new lighting. "...Cat?"

Cat stood in the center of the room, looking very uncomfortable. She refused to make eye contact. "I don't want to be here. Tori made me." She pouted and crossed her arms. "She hit me in the face with a pillow." Jade didn't know whether to thank Tori or hit her in the face with a pillow herself. She'd prefer the latter choice.

"Cat, listen, I'm sorry about before..." Jade wasn't sure of what to say. She thought she would've had more time to think of something, apparently not. "I don't want your grades to suffer because of me."

"Well, that's not your decision is it?" Cat snapped unexpectedly. She immediately covered her mouth and finally met Jade's gaze. Cat's eyes were apologetic and worried. Jade merely shook her head. Maybe she deserved it. "I-I know you were only looking out for me, I understand that but..." Jade had to strain her ears to listen. Cat noticed this and exploded, "You always take care of me! Why can't _I_ take care of _you?_ You won't let me do that even once, Jade! It's not fair!"

Jade jumped at Cat's booming words. She stared at Cat's heaving form, tired and strained from lack of sleep and stressful encounters. How the hell was she suppose to respond to _that_? It was true that Jade was more protective of Cat than Cat was of Jade, and that Jade was the comforter in their relationship, which Jade was getting more comfortable being.

"I-I'm sorry?" Jade winced at how lame that was.

But it seemed to do something because Cat marched over to the bed and grabbed her hand. "I know you are! Which is why..." Her voice got softer as did her gaze. "I'm not mad at you." She squeezed her hand tightly.

Jade blinked stupidly. "You...aren't?"

Cat shook her head with a smile. "Nope."

"Oh." Wow, aren't we articulate today? Cat giggled and shook her head sympathetically.

She leaned over and kissed her girlfriend briefly. She breath ghosted across full pink lips, "Scoot over." Jade was on auto-pilot, she maneuvered so she was settled on the left side of the bed, leaving plenty of room for Cat. Cat was smiling her mega-watt smile that made Jade's pulse thump. "I'm sleepy, Jade." Jade smiled affectionately at her childish girlfriend and brushed red bangs behind her ear.

"Then go to sleep, babe."

Cat released a quiet laugh and said sleepily, "I like it when you call me that." She yawned and nuzzled into Jade's shoulder. "It's not like when Beck called you that...it sounds better."

"Hmm..."

"Jade?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you feel better?"

Jade didn't have to think twice, "Yeah."

* * *

**Sorry, this was a bit rushed. I wanted to add another chapter before the 4th of July chapter, since it doesn't talk about Jade's recovery in the hospital and I didn't want Jade's recovery to be skipped. The next chapter will be the 4th of July chapter, which I will post by the 4th of July. Until then.**

**I referenced "Rex Dies" in this chapter.**


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